I just continue to be myself and give this thing over to the good lord, just do my best every night and pretend like it's just any other job.

It wasn't just Willie and Waylon, there were a lot of influences there. The coolest thing about this, is after getting to listen back to all these mixes is realizing that this record is like a bag of Skittles; every time you pull something out, it's a different flavor. But they're all Skittles. They're all Cody Johnson.

I don't know about one moment that has pivoted my career. I do know that one thing that hit me and made me take a few steps back was a year at Steamboat.

In the back of your mind you always want it to be successful and you want things to happen, but I've learned in my life that if you want something too much, even when it happens it may not be what you wanted if you set your expectations too high.

Some people weren't sure whether they wanted to get on board until the very end, and by then it's too late - so we just shake their hand and thank them for their time as well. I don't know that I'm beating anyone at their own game, other than just being myself and doing what I've promised my fans, my family, and my team that I'm going to do.

It's something that Cory Morrow said to me a long time ago - "Don't ever forget why Nashville is Nashville. The Opry is there for a reason. Country music lives there. Don't be bitter. And don't ever treat Texas or Nashville like either one isn't important."

Obviously the way that I talk and the way that I dress all has to do with the way that I was raised. As far as the drive, when I was 18 or 21 years old, everything I did was because I wanted to go play music simply because that's what I wanted to do.