Cody Johnson deserved his ACM Entertainer of the Year win for a lot of reasons, but above all it’s because that man could perform a two-hour set with nothing but him and a guitar and still sell out every. single. seat.
The Texas superstar recently went viral after a clip was posted of him singing acapella backstage at sunset, and beyond the stunning views, Johnson’s crisp vocals absolutely rip. Garnering over half a million views on TikTok so far, the snippet posted by Warner Records (aka Johnson’s label) features him singing his single, “Take Me Back (Leave Me There” which personally remains one of my ultimate favorites from his latest album.
They captioned the video of Johnson’s cowboy hat silhouette backed by a purply-pink sky, “Raw CoJo vocals just hit different at sunset,” and fans loaded up the comments in agreement. Think it’s safe to say that after Johnson gets to work on his also highly requested cover album, he needs to keep his *ss in the studio and record an acoustic album.
Sorry CoJo, It’s a unanimous vote. The people need it:
There’s also just something about the way he repeats “Ya Baby” at the end of the clip that probably has something to do with it going viral. “The Painter” singer left his mark on the post with a jolly grinning cowboy hat-wearing emoji gif in the comment section, which means he (or his team) had to have seen the repeated acoustic album requests.
Earlier today, they leaned into the fan-favorite acoustic style a little bit more when Johnson posted a similar snippet with his band backstage singing the title track, “Banks of the Trinity,” and Lord, those accapella acoustics get me every time. I hope that’s what the gates of heaven sound like.
The comment section looked pretty similar with fans continuing to ask…”acoustic album?” Given Johnson’s tenth studio album only dropped a little over a month ago, I have a feeling a full-fledged project isn’t on his radar quite yet, but a girl can dream.
In just a few weeks, he’ll wrap up the North American leg of his ’26 Live tour and head overseas for a string of European dates, wrapping up on November 5 in Dublin. For those unable to catch him this year, you can join me in rewatching these ethereal 20-second clips on repeat.
Tour Dates:
- 8/8 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center
- 8/22 – Knoxville, TN – Food City Center
- 8/29 – Saint Paul, MN – Grand Casino Arena
- 9/12 – Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Dome
- 10/24 – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
- 10/27 – London, UK – The O2
- 11/1 – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
- 11/2 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
- 11/4 – Belfast, UK – SSE Arena Belfast
- 11/5 – Dublin, IE – 3Arena