Cody Johnson Announces The Leather Tour In Support Of His Highly Anticipated New Album
The new project, ‘Leather,’ will be available November 3.
Cody Johnson; Photo by Andrew Wendowski
Cody Johnson’s run of successful headlining shows is set to continue into 2024 with his newly announced trek dubbed, The Leather Tour.
The first leg of this tour is set to launch on January 19 in Sacramento, CA, and continue with dates in Arizona, Tennessee, Kansas, Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, and Ohio. During his visit to Nashville, TN, Johnson will deliver his first-ever headlining performance in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on February 2. This milestone show will follow his 2022 concert at Music City’s FirstBank Amphitheater, Nashville’s newest outdoor venue.
Special guests during the first leg include Justin Moore, Dillon Carmichael and Chris Janson.
Tickets are on sale now at Codyjohnsonmusic.com.
The upcoming trek is named after the platinum recording artist’s third COJO Music / Warner Music Nashville studio album, Leather, which is slated to drop on November 3. While speaking with Justin McKee, host of the Cowboy Channel, Johnson shared his pride for the new Trend Willmon produced project and revealed that it was secretly in the works for about a year and a half.
“Having new music out is fun,” he shared. “It’s like, I’ve worked for a year and a half and I didn’t really tell anybody. Just going into the studio kinda secretly and recording my butt off.”
In another statement to his label, the Texas native continued to tack high expectations onto the forthcoming project, proving that all that hard work in the studio has seemingly paid off.
“This round of songs, I have to say, is the best round of songs I have ever recorded and I feel like that’s the way it should be,” he shared via press release. “Each album should outdo the last one.”
Leather will serve as Johnson’s second consecutive double album, following his October 2021 project, Human, which featured a total of 18 tracks including the chart-topping hit “‘Til You Can’t” and his latest single, “Human.”
Johnson reverently gave fans a further glimpse into the album with two new songs – “Work Boots” and “Watching My Old Flame Go Out.”
Co-written by Jason Afable, Brett Beavers, and Canaan Smith, “Work Boots” features a buoyant energy and catchy lyrics that acts as a pep talk from Johnson to his boots as he builds up the courage to ask the girl to dance because she might end up being “the one to change our world.”
“Work Boots”
As for “Watching My Old Flame Go Out,” the Kat Higgins, Wynn Varble, and Clint Daniels penned ballad takes listeners on a more somber journey through the pain of seeing an ex moving on.
The passion in Johnson’s voice is highlighted throughout the tender narrative as he sings “It’s been over for a while and we both know it / I keep prayin’ maybe she might turn around / If there’s a least bit of a spark left, she don’t show it / Yeah she’s movin’ on from me there ain’t no doubt / It’s the hardest thing watchin’ my old flame, go out.”
“Watching My Old Flame”
This set of fresh tunes follows the release of “The Painter,” the first single to spawn from the album. Although Johnson didn’t have a hand in writing the swoon-worthy tune, he made it clear that he was able to easily relate the tender lyrics to the kindhearted spirit of his wife, Brandi.
“My favorite lyric in ‘The Painter’ is ‘for every wall I built, she saw a canvas.’ If there’s anything that describes my marriage with my wife, Brandi, it’s that line,” Johnson explained. “And that’s why we’ve been together for 15 years.”
“The Painter”
In addition to Leather, the ‘’Til You Can’t” singer revealed that he has a concept album called The Cowboy Sessions that’s also been brewing behind the scenes. As he explained to Spencer Graves, this project will be something completely different for him as it will be entirely made up of covers that were originally released by country music greats like Marty Robbins, Willie Nelson, Chris LeDoux, George Strait, Tom T. Russell, and more.
“Doing a concept album called ‘The Cowboy Sessions,’ and it’s nothing but old cowboy songs, like Marty Robbins, Willie Nelson, so the entire record is just covers,” he explained.
Cody Johnson isn’t stopping there because as it turns out, he’s got plenty more ideas for how he can branch out and explore his creativity in his future collections.
“In my future, I think a bluegrass album, I think a gospel album…[it’d be] really fun one time to just record a full-blown rock album…”
Alongside all the new projects Cody Johnson has in the works, he is also in the midst of his busy touring schedule. He recently returned from his time on the road in Australia and New Zealand, where he served as support for the international leg of Luke Combs’ massive 2023 World Tour.
Next up, Johnson has several more festival and headlining appearances to make before wrapping up the year with a show at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on December 8.
For a full list of upcoming dates, visit Cody Johnson’s official website HERE.
“The Leather Tour” 2024:
1-19 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center
1-20 Anaheim, CA Honda Center
1-26 San Deigo, CA Pechanga Arena
1-27 Glendale, AZ Desert Diamond Arena
2-2 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
2-9 Wichita, KS Intrust Bank Arena
2-10 N. Little Rock, AR Simmons Bank Arena*
2-16 Sunrise, FL Amerant Bank Arena
2-17 Jacksonville, FL Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena
3-16 Birmingham, AL Legacy Arena @ BJCC
6-1 Panama City Beach, FL Gulf Coast Jam**
6-14 N. Lawrence, OH The Country Fest**
7-11 Ft. Loramie, OH Country Concert @ Hickory Hills Lakes**
*all dates include Justin Moore and Dillon Carmichael except Feb. 10 which features Chris Janson and Dillon Carmichael
**Cody Festival dates
Madeleine O’Connell graduated from North Central College with a bachelors degree in Journalism and Broadcast Communications before deciding to pursue her studies further at DePaul University. There, she earned her masters degree in Digital Communication & Media Arts. O’Connell served as a freelance writer for over two years while also interning with the Academy of Country Music, SiriusXM and Circle Media and assisting with Amazon Music’s Country Heat Weekly podcast. In addition to Country Now, she has been published in American Songwriter, Music Mayhem, and Holler.Country. Madeleine O’Connell is a member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.
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