COJO Music / Warner Music Nashville Platinum artist Cody Johnson’s new album Leather is available Today! The 12-song project includes his new smash single, “The Painter,” which landed at #1 on SiriusXM's The Highway’s Hot 30 Countdown this week, and also features Brooks & Dunn and Jelly Roll. Leather was produced by Trent Willmon and is Cody’s third major label studio album release following Ain’t Nothin’ To It in 2019 and 2021’sHuman The Double Album.
Cody will perform Leather’s first single “The Painter” for the first time for television audiences on “The 57th Annual CMA Awards” to be broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena 8:00-11:00 PM/EST on ABC. Cody goes into the show as a Male Vocalist of The Year nominee. Cody was a double CMA Award winner in 2022 taking home the honors in the “Video of The Year” and “Single of The Year” categories for his career-making (and Grammy winning) #1 hit “’Til You Can’t.”
Upon the release of the album media has boasted about the entertainer and the new music. Holler Magazine sharing, “Just one listen makes it very clear that he is the genre’s benchmark.” Andcountrynow.com had this to say after claiming the title track was the authentic life of Cody, “The singer captured that same unapologetic storytelling throughout the remainder of the record and even on the (album’s) cover photo.” The photo shoot for the album was done on Cody’s ranch during a long, hard day working with cattle that left his hands dirty and bloody.
About the first single Cody told Billboard, “I think it's the first song [“The Painter”] I've ever recorded where I sing it in my talking voice. I intentionally tried to stay out of the way of the song, so the listener could paint their own image, and have their own interpretation of it. But for me, obviously, it's about my wife [Brandi]. Without her, my world wouldn't be what it is. We've been together for 15 years, so we've had some real highs, had some real lows. We've been through a lot together. She has stuck with me through thick and thin, and I think she deserves for me to be able to say this song is for her." He also spoke about them about the new album and being ‘authentic.’ “People appreciate authenticity, whether it’s me being a cowboy and singing something that reminds people of ‘90s country stuff they grew up on, or someone like the Zach Bryans and guys that are more like what probably is considered Americana, or Jelly Roll, who is completely the opposite of me, musically. But authenticity is the common thread."
The New York Times touted “The Painter” comes from “one of mainstream country’s sturdiest performers, extends his streak of music that’s deeply earnest, unflashily produced, and a blend of emotionally stoic and trembling.”
