Cody Jinks joins Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen to talk about making his new album ‘Mercy’ at the famous Sonic Ranch studios. Cody shares his philosophy on making records, growing up in honky-tonks and how releasing his double album was designed to mess with his audience. Tune in and listen to the episode in-full this Friday (Nov. 26) at 11am PT / 1pm CT / 2pm ET or anytime on-demand at apple.co/_TodaysCountry.
Cody Jinks on the Sound of ‘Mercy’
There was such a separation of the types of songs, because take the title track, “Mercy,” which is this very, very understated, beautiful love song. Very in the vein of mid-80s Randy Travis, not a lot going on. And then there’s a couple other songs on there like that as well, but then you have the ones like “How It Works” and “Hurricane.” And we did change it up a little bit this time, we put some more rocking stuff on there. But at the end of the day, I was a bar band getting started and we’re really just a honkytonk band because it’s elements of country, which, it’s predominantly that, but there’s elements of blues and there’s elements of rock and roll.
Cody Jinks on How He’s “Screwing with People”
When this record drops, you’re going to have a lot of people going, “There’s too much rock on it.” And we’re prepared for that. But as a band, we had so much fun making this record that, yeah, there’s some rock and roll on it. If you don’t like that song, I’m sorry. Maybe listen to the words. You might dig it after you listen to the words and you get over the raging guitar or whatever. But then the next song is going to be something slow and low-key and you turn it up because it’s just, like I said, it’s a roller coaster and that’s how we screwed with people and we’re always going to. But the end game is trying to make a great record. I’m not trying to make a record where there’s two, three, four singles that we can work with. That’s not the point, that’s never been the point with me. I’ve always tried to go in and make a full record, something that you can put on the table or whatever, put your needle on it or just hit play and let it go.
Cody Jinks of Recording ‘Mercy’ at the Sonic Ranch
We’re working 12 hours a day out there. We worked 12 hours a day and this last time we were out there for 30 days. And I think we only took two whole days off where nobody did anything. At some other point, there was somebody constantly working the other 28 days. But that’s what you go out there to do. You can’t go anywhere. You’re in the middle of the desert on the Mexico line. You literally cannot go down the street to 7-Eleven. 7-Eleven is 25 minutes away. Then, if you want anything more than that, you’ve got to go into El Paso and that’s 45 minutes away. So, we don’t leave. I’ve been doing this for a long time and the thing about songs and songwriting is that the people want to hear what you have to say, as long as it’s to music.
Cody Jinks on “How It Works”
It was absolutely written to the naysayers. “How it Works” was written after my wife and I got into an argument. My wife and I had been together for 24 years. Actually, she was at the first show I ever played when I was 17 years old in a little old bar outside of Haltom City, Texas. Fast forward to our early 40s, two kids later, 17 years worth of marriage, she’s been through all of this. We basically got into an argument over a router cord. She’s stressed out because I’m at home and I’m stressed out and she’s just trying to help me and I’m being a huge asshole and I know this. And I know that I’m not the easiest person to work for, that’s why she says she’s my wife and not somebody that works for me. But she was trying very hard and she got so mad and I got so mad and I just stormed off and I went to my office and I wrote “How it Works” and I wrote that about her.
