Thursday, December 18, 2014
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Cody Gibson's debut album, "That's My Home".
By John Benson
Cody Gibson was like a giddy kid on Christmas morning last month when his debut CD, “That’s My Home,” was finally released.
“It’s actually pretty crazy because you work so hard for something and you see your songs develop from writings on a piece of paper to a melody to being in the studio, and now it’s on iTunes,” said Hanoverton resident and country music artist Cody Gibson. “It’s like, ‘Holy crap! I’m on iTunes.’ You can even Shazam me, which is pretty cool. I’ve never been able to Shazam myself before.”
Just for the record, Gibson Shazamed himself twice, yielding two different reactions.
“The first time it was like, ‘Wow,’ and the second time it was like, ‘Yeah,’” Gibson said, laughing.
“Wow” and “Yeah” is something Gibson has become accustomed to hearing over the past two years when the construction worker went from karaoke singer to aspiring country music artist. He’ll play a show this Saturday at Cricket’s Lounge in Youngstown.
As for the debut album, Gibson said it sounds like a mix between Jason Aldean, Eric Church and Florida Georgia Line. He points to lead single “Tailgate Buzz” as defining his style.
The song, which is somewhat self-explanatory as a party tune, was written while he was on a hunting trip and a buddy said he was going to get his tailgate buzz on. The upbeat and loud tune even has its own video. Gibson said shooting it was a blast.
“A professional production company came down, and we did all of the shots in one day, running around everywhere,” Gibson said. “It was scorching hot that day. I tried to keep it hometown so all the places we shot, people around here would be like, ‘Oh, that’s cool. That’s the gas station I go to everyday, and it’s in a music video.’ You don’t see that everyday.”
Considering the theme of the track is, well, cracking open a cold one while sitting in a truck bed, did the video shoot use near beer or apple juice?
“Well, it wasn’t supposed to be alcohol,” Gibson said. “My buddies who let us shoot a party on their farm said, ‘We can’t do this without alcohol.’ So we ended up drinking. The great thing about the music video is nobody is pretending to have fun. They are having fun, so it was awesome.”
One album track that is unexpectedly reaching fans is called “Too Drunk to Care.” Gibson said he added the song to the track list in the last minute.
When asked what does it say about his fans that they all gravitate to drinking songs, he said, “That they like to get loud and rowdy. They like to party.”
Up next for Gibson is the hard work, which involves spending the next year or two touring the project with the hope, eventually, he lands an opening gig for a Music City star.
No matter what the future holds, Gibson said he’s going to remain humbled.
“I’m a hometown boy and I love music, man,” Gibson said. “The album will show people how much I love music. Everything comes from my heart.”
For more information, visit codygibsonmusic.com.