Cover Photo: Moses Jimenez of MoPhoto
For those who have not yet been introduced to Cody Cozz, I am about to do you a serious favor. Cody is a 24-year-old singer/songwriter from Pueblo, Colorado. A former D2 college football player, Cody recently made the move to Nashville after signing a record deal with Grindstone Records.
Cody Cozz began his music career by playing at the local Colorado honky tonks and eventually opened for artists such as Jon Pardi, Clay Walker, Michael Ray, Mitchell Tenpenny, Craig Campbell, Matt Stell, Easton Corbin, Josh Turner, Heath Sanders, Rascal Flatts, Jerrod Niemann, Koe Wetzel, Mike Ryan, Aaron Watson, Tracy Byrd, and Jordan Davis. However, during an opening performance for Craig Campbell, he received a life changing opportunity. Cody soon received a phone call asking if he wanted to move to Nashville and sign with Craig’s record label, Grindstone Records.
If you’re unfamiliar with how this industry works, it is not very often that someone gets a record deal that fast. The saying “10-year town” didn’t get made up out of thin air. A lot of times, people never get the record deal, publishing deal, etc. that they come to town hoping for. Cody was put in a rare situation and has capitalized on these opportunities so far.
In June of 2022, Cody released his debut single “On My Way” with Grindstone Records. Boasting hundreds of thousands of streams and a music video that premiered on CMT, Cody set himself up for a very successful career in country music. The winner of the 2022 RMCMA Fan Army Award and nominee for the 2022 Rocky Mountain Country Music Awards New Artist of the Year had a lot of pressure on him with the release of his next single.
On October 28, Cody released his second single under Grindstone, “Right on Time”. This newest track is another example of Cody’s powerful vocals and ability to hold an audience. Just like “On My Way”, “Right on Time” begins as a soft and slow melody that builds into a more upbeat country song throughout the chorus. “Right on Time” is one of the songs that you will see on his debut EP that is expected in the middle of 2023. Until then, expect to see a few more singles leading up to the EP!
Being from Colorado, Cody has a western country style and sound that blends well with the Texas country music scene. With a heavy fan base in Texas cities such as Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Amarillo, and Arlington, you can expect to see Cody in the Lone Star State a lot in the spring. With country influences like Brooks & Dunn, Keith Whitley, George Strait, and Vince Gill, you can get a feel for where Cody gets his sound and songwriting inspiration. He also grew up on classic rock and influences such as Styx and Journey, which you may get more of a taste of in Cody’s future releases.
As of November 2022, Cody has begun his Grand Ole Opry rounds, which requires him to play all of the sister venues of the Opry. Once he has completed playing all of the required venues, he could be asked to make his Grand Ole Opry debut. With that being said, I had the opportunity to see HARDY perform in Fort Myers, Florida in 2019 for a crowd of maybe 150 people before he blew up. As he now sells out tours, I get to say “I saw him when…“ If you buy into Cody Cozz now, it won’t be long before you get to say “I saw him when…”
