{"id":21007,"date":"2020-01-17T13:02:45","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T20:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/?p=1816774"},"modified":"2020-01-17T13:02:45","modified_gmt":"2020-01-17T20:02:45","slug":"cody-johnson-one-night-into-miranda-lamberts-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/music-news\/cody-johnson-one-night-into-miranda-lamberts-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Cody Johnson, One Night into Miranda Lambert\u2019s Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by Alison Bonaguro<\/a><\/span>
\n33m ago<\/span>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

After opening night (Jan. 16) of the Wildcard tour in Tupelo, tour opener Cody Johnson called to tell me all about his first night out with Miranda Lambert. And the bottom line is, it sounds like the two Texans complement each other perfectly. <\/p>\n

CMT.com: Okay. I know it\u2019s only been one night, but give me your first impression of the first night of the tour?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnson: Miranda just really made us all feel at home. Her whole band and crew did. There is such a whole family atmosphere she has, and it\u2019s so much like the way we run our tours. We\u2019re not just a bunch of hired guns, we\u2019re more of a brotherhood. And we encourage each other to be better, on stage and off stage. Miranda really opened up her door to us and welcomed us in. <\/p>\n

Is it safe to assume you stuck around after your set in order to watch hers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I did, and that\u2019s so rare for me. I got to watch Miranda\u2019s full show last night. And she is so talented and such a great entertainer. My wheelhouse is on stage, so I wanted to see how she utilized that stage that I just played on. I was so impressed. I\u2019ve always been a fan of her writing. I feel like I understand her as a writer. We\u2019ve talked about trying to write together some \u2014 it makes sense that we\u2019d write songs because we both use the same verbiage. <\/p>\n

So you got to watch her show. Did she watch yours?<\/strong><\/p>\n

She did. She has this great idea where there is a curtain to the side of the stage, so that she can watch the other acts without any of the fans seeing her and taking the attention away from the artist on stage. <\/p>\n

And did her fans seem to be connecting with your music in kind of the same way?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think because we\u2019re both from East Texas, it\u2019s easy to listen to her music and my music. She has a lot more females at the show than I do at mine, and I\u2019ve noticed there is a big age difference, too. And that\u2019s great, because those are people I don\u2019t get to play in front of enough. At one point in her show, Miranda said to the crowd, \u201cAll you girls out there, by the way, you\u2019re welcome for having Cody Johnson on tour with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

You mentioned that you\u2019re both from East Texas. She\u2019s from Lindale and you\u2019re from Huntsville. And I know Texas is big, but I am assuming your paths have crossed before. How long have you known her?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve only actually met her once before, when we were both playing a festival and we just had a beer and talked. But that was it. So last night was great because she has her husband out on tour and I had my wife and my daughters with me, and we had the chance to just sit around and talk like normal people. She is so gracious. <\/p>\n

I apologize for the clich\u00e9, but I know this ain\u2019t your first rodeo. You\u2019ve headlined big shows for years. So what\u2019s it like for you when you\u2019re not the big draw?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s like a day off, to be honest. It\u2019s an hour set. I\u2019ve been playing shows for more than 13 years, and after an hour I\u2019m usually just getting started. Some nights I play for two hours if I want to. Just getting creative and making stuff up as I go along. But when you\u2019re opening, if you tell me I have 50 minutes, I want to be walking off the stage after 49 minutes. You\u2019re there to do what you\u2019re hired to do and then get the hell out of the way. <\/p>\n

Since you\u2019ve kind of played all the stages, what\u2019s the biggest difference between an arena show and a honky-tonk show? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Every honky-tonk and bar we\u2019ve ever played, I\u2019m always thinking about the bigger stage. It\u2019s been my goal the entire time to play arenas. So then every arena we step into, I\u2019m thinking about stadiums we haven\u2019t played yet. I take a lot of pride in the present, and I\u2019m not saying that where we are isn\u2019t good enough, but I\u2019m always thinking of next thing. I truly come alive on a big stage. So on this tour, there\u2019s something cool for me as an artist to take 10,000 people and make them feel like they\u2019re in a honky-tonk with me. It takes a lot of courage and a little risk, but man, when you can pull it off, it\u2019s unlike anything else.<\/p>\n

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