Cody Jinks – Change the Game
Cody Jinks is an artist who has more on his mind than cranking out records. The Texas-raised singer-songwriter has released 10 albums of solid, meat-and-potatoes country rock, but he’s also recently been making changes in his life and his work. On the health front, he’s quit drinking and cigarettes. He’s also dialed up his musical independence, establishing his own label (Late August Records) and retained ownership of his own music. All of this self-determination finds a home on his latest album, Change The Game, which finds Jinks acknowledging responsibility for his own life and choices, as well as using his experiences to help the next generation of young artists.
Jinks starts off Change The Game with his biggest personal change – putting down the bottle. “Sober Thing” begins as an acoustic confessional – “Well, it’s me/In case you were wondering/Same old mess as I have always been.” He mixes in the toll that music and life on the road takes on most touring musicians – “I don’t know which ones are worse…The sleepless nights or the passing out and finally getting rest” – while also admitting that it took a pandemic stoppage to allow him to see what he was doing to himself and his loved ones – “The slowing down just reminds me of why I started in the first place/The numbing just fueled me for running away from the pain.”
After that relatively pensive start to the record, Change The Game kicks into what Jinks is best known for – summer-ready rockers. “Outlaws and Mustangs” is a full-band number that shows off the players that Jinks has assembled – largely the same group in studio and on the road – and fills up the track with fiddle, pedal steel and a small choir at the end. “Deceiver’s Blues” is a funky, organ-tinged look at the hard work that band puts in: work that, as it turns out, isn’t guaranteed to pay off – “Sometimes I wonder how the good lord decides/Who gets the luck, who gets the struggle and strife.”
Having lived those struggles – and having reached some level of success – is what fuels Jinks. The record’s title track – a jangly, steely road song – has the singer flashing back to his earliest hopes for his music – “Man, I sure miss playing bars/All I ever really wanted was to sing and play guitar/With my friends.” However, now that he’s found his independence – “I wear that hat, yeah, I’m the punk that says I did it my own way” – he’s in a position to appreciate the struggle and lend a hand (or at least an ear) to the next generation – “I keep praying for the youngbloods next in line to take my place.” That kind of personal and professional responsibility is Change The Game’s most prominent theme, but Jinks balances the dashes of tough love with heartfelt advice on the album’s capper. “What You Love” is a piano-and-strings ballad that doesn’t sugarcoat – “LIfe is tough and love’s a fight/Don’t mean you’re doing it wrong” – but also leaves room for chasing happiness – “Don’t waste your days on dreams that don’t fill you/Find out what you love and let it kill you.” Jinks has fulfilled his dream – what’s yours?
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Take This Bottle” – the only cover on Change The Game takes Jinks back to his early metal days, as he unearths a moody 1995 Faith No More song, dials the twang up to 10 and invites Pearl Aday (Meatloaf’s adopted daughter) to sing a withering response to his drinker’s lament – “But I’ve hoped too long/Hoped for you to change/And that hope is gone.”
Change The Game was produced by Ryan Hewitt and Joshua Thompson, recorded and mixed by Hewitt and mastered by Ted Jensen. All original songs written by Cody Jinks, with co-writes going to Tennessee Jet, Bryan Martin Curtis, Adam Hood, Jake Worthington, Josh Morningstar and Jim “Moose” Brown. Musicians on the album include Jinks (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Chris Claridy (acoustic guitar, electric guitar), David Colvin (drums, percussion), Drew Harakal (B3 organ, piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals), Jake Lentner (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals), Joshua Thompson (bass, background vocals), Austin “Hotrod” Tripp (pedal steel, Dobro), Lenny Castro (percussion), Billy Contreras (fiddle), Pearl Aday (lead vocal on “Take This Bottle”), Jason Eskridge (group director, background vocal choir) and Kiley Phillips, Wil Merrell and Nickie Conley (background vocal choir).
Go here to order Change The Game (out March 22): https://cody-jinks.myshopify.com/
Check out tour dates here: https://codyjinks.com/tour/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEWS: After the Fire and The Wanting