About

Throughout the 16 new songs on Banks Of The Trinity, Cody Johnson is carrying the torch of traditional country music into the future, even as he’s looking back on the foundational moments of his life. Produced by longtime collaborator Trent Willmon, Banks of the Trinity follows 2023’s Leather, which won the CMA Award for Album of the Year. Instead of resting on those laurels, however, Johnson put out the call to Music Row to start sending him songs the very next day.

While preparing a new album for a late 2025 release, Johnson’s eardrum burst from a sinus and upper respiratory infection. Two weeks later, he and his wife welcomed their third child, a son. With three months off the road to heal and acclimate, Johnson spent time listening to material and discovered about half of the songs on Banks Of The Trinity. Although his background in rodeo and ranching is well known, Johnson realized he could now share a different side of himself.

“On this album, I wanted to tell the story about my childhood,” Johnson says. “When I heard the song ‘Banks of the Trinity’ for the first time, it was like this portrait showed in my head of memories that honestly I'd forgotten. It just took me back home to Sebastopol, Texas, where I grew up on the Trinity River. I had tears in my eyes when I heard it for the first time.”

For the album cover image, he chose a photo of Lawrence’s Grocery Store in Sebastopol. As a kid, Johnson would ride his bike for two miles down an old dirt road to get a cream soda and a Blue Bell ice cream bar. He loved listening to the old men talk a while before riding back home with a basket of groceries. For the additional album art, Johnson and his good friend Colby Lovell (a World Champion Team Roper) spent a day fishing on the Trinity River.

Although Johnson keeps his family life away from the cameras, it’s apparent that “Bible for a Boy” is a reflection of his pride as a father, while “Kissing a Married Woman” shows his deep affection for his wife, Brandi, whom he married in 2008. Johnson also branches out on duets with fellow country stars Brothers Osborne (“Foolproof”) and Luke Combs (“Shoot the Bull.”) Heard as a whole, Banks Of The Trinity captures nearly every tributary of modern country music.

“I feel like country music is a close cousin to bluegrass, and it's a close cousin to rhythm and blues, and it's a close cousin to gospel, and a little bit of rock and roll,” Johnson says. “I wanted to touch a little bit on each of those things, but then still have those songs that when you hear them, you know that's a Cody Johnson song. With ‘Hello Lonesome.’ I said, ‘That's about the country-est damn thing I've heard in 20 years, and I'm going to record it, and it needs to sound like it's supposed to sound.’ I didn't have any agenda with those kinds of songs, other than when you hear it, I wanted you to think, ‘Cody just wanted to record a damn country song.’”

Johnson says “Time Bomb” may be the song he’s most proud of on the album. “I was really telling my story,” he adds. “I was writing it on the phone with Trent Willmon, and he said, ‘You don't know what tomorrow holds. We're not guaranteed anything. This time bomb could blow up and be a bad thing. Or, in my opinion, it's a time bomb just waiting to blow up for you to be a freaking global superstar.” Johnson liked the twist, then shared the idea with Noe Quintanilla and Codrick Murphy, two close friends who are also part of Johnson’s touring crew.

“I said, ‘Hey, y'all listen to this,’ and I played it for them,” Johnson recalls. “And the more we talked about it, and the more we started discussing it, it just kind of fell out. So not only did I get to write this about myself with Trent, but with two of my other best friends that I've known for all these years. I just feel like that was a really special moment. And the way that it turned out in the studio, if that song doesn't make you move, I don't know what to tell you.”

Since signing with Warner Records Nashville in 2019, Johnson has accrued more than 10 billion global streams worldwide. He landed his first #1 single in 2022 with “‘Til You Can’t,” which earned a Grammy for Best Country Song and two CMA Awards. He returned to #1 in 2024 with his uplifting love song, “The Painter,” and again twice in 2025 with “Dirt Cheap” as well as the Carrie Underwood duet, “I’m Gonna Love You.” Also in 2025, he accepted the ACM Song of the Year award for “Dirt Cheap,” picked up the CMA Male Vocalist of the Year award, and sold nearly half a million concert tickets. In March 2026, Johnson set a concert attendance record at NRG stadium playing to more than 80,000 fans during the Houston Rodeo.

Taking in this incredible moment in his career, Johnson also carries a newfound confidence and an innate sense that he’s just getting started.

“I feel like we're sitting on the tip of what's fixing to be something really big,” Johnson says. “I’ve said it over and over again, that everything happens for a reason. If I were experiencing the levels of success right now 10 years ago, I really think I would have imploded. I don't think I had the spiritual maturity. I don't think I had the kind of wisdom, financially, of how to be a leader or run a company. Also, in discipline musically, physically and mentally. I feel like I've got all my tools in my belt right now and I'm finally ready.”