The most serious lack you may have about American music, as far as I’m concerned, is no doubt not knowing Cody Jinks from Fort Worth, Texas. The king of independent music, not just country. In fact today 12 November, Year of the Lord 2021, our hero comes out in stores with two discs, it seems a commercial suicide but it is not trusted (it is not new to operations like that that have never failed the goal), a note of country which is now one of the absolute references and one of heavy metal with his band Caned By Nod (a return to its origins absolutely incredible). Here is an artist who does these things can only be counted among the geniuses of American music, without ifs and buts. A street poet with no hair on the tongue, a musician and author of the first order, accompanied by a band almost perfect. For those who are curious to learn more about the particular history of this songwriter, spit out by commercial Nashville, that of the awards, that of mainstream radio and CMA awards, which took revenge for the next 100 years, can go to this link of my blog where I tried to make it known even at latitudes not properly country : https://www.trexroads.com/cody-jinks-texan-journey-from-heavy-metal-to-outlaw-country/. But let’s come to this Mercy, 12 pieces of a sparkling beauty, a 40-minute record that fly away on the plate fast but leave attached to the soul feelings and sounds that will not easily leave the air. Recorded at the well-known Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, TX, the album is a country monolith of excellent quality also thanks to Tone Deaf Hippies, the band of Jinks for years that also follows him in his legendary live, and co-authors of songs that are among the best artists that independent country can offer. Just press play or put the stylus on the vinyl and part All It Was Cost Me Was Everything, a piece written in six hands together with Kendell Marvel and Josh Morningstar, two incredible authors who give us a particular country piece. You can not catalog is Cody Jinks and just and the text is the answer to the question that many will have asked : “but how much it cost to be like you? and turn your back on the music business?” the answer is in the title but that all led to this record, to this legend that continues for years. The sound is crystal clear, produced to perfection and the interlacing guitar and pedal-steel of two masters of instruments such as Chris Claridy and Austin ‘Hot Rod’ Tripp, is something for fine palates. The second piece is a fist in the face, musically it is energetic country rock where the guitar and the rhythm don’t leave breath in the bridge then exploding in a solo of a stunned beauty but it is the text that makes the difference. Never heard Jinks so direct, so bad. We do not know who is dedicated but we would not want to be the recipient : “I’m gonna hurt you and hurt you / I’m gonna hurt you as much as I can / And watch you cry and die where you stand”. A wonderful piece in its simplicity. The title track is a country ballad with a vague blues flavor, with Tripp’s dobro to guide us, a wonderful piece by Adam Hood (another excellent author). A dedication to the woman who bears a difficult man, even here simplicity and sincerity. The trademark of a true man who has never been afraid to write about his weaknesses and falls. A jewel of American music. Feeding the Flames with its syncopated course, is the delicious fruit of the trio Jinks-Morningstar-Marvel, a powerful, exciting song that the Tone Deaf Hippies make unique. These guys together are the best country band you can imagine. The notes flow behind a text as usual direct and true, a love that burns with passion, a song of pure outlaw country with a solo the usual beautiful. I Don’t Trust My Memories Anymore is the first real slow country, melancholy, dragged but not trivial. Memories seem to hurt, distant memories of friends no longer friends, feelings now buried by the sands of time. Merle Haggard would have been proud of a song like this, a piece that would have been a cult even in the glorious outlaw years. The intensity rises with the subsequent Like a Hurricane, rhythmic and intense, the collaboration with Josh Morningstar always gives unforgettable pieces and this piece is no exception. The text is one of the most beautiful they have ever written : “When the going gets a little harder / Don’t throw it all away / Even though they’re moving slow / The winds of change are gonna blow like a hurricane” and the guitar solo is short but gives emotions. A bit like this piece that flies away in just under 3 minutes but it’s like a lifetime. You want to go back but there is no breath and How It Works starts hard and fast, with pedal-steel to drive a nice ride, it is not a song of love in the music but the text yes, yes it is. A dedication to her to blow your breath away, simple and direct. You always get the feeling of real feelings, it’s not fiction. Rebecca Jinks participates in the choirs and writing songs but it is a presence that is felt in all the art of Cody Jinks. “Ain’t nobody else on earth gets to me” is a confession of finding a soul mate. Amazing. The ballad Nobody Knows How To Read is an acoustic country that has in the text very current its strong, always on the side of the middle class, always on the side of those who suffer from the agendas. Direct and no frills, like all his music. Shoulders is another collaboration with an artist of immense talent, Tennessee Jet, and together with Kendell Marvel, they give us another wonderful outlaw country piece, a song about a heavy reality to support, we rely on prayers but will it be enough? Country is this for me, ironic and direct pieces like Dying Isn’t Cheap have within themselves that sincerity and that awareness of the hardness of life but also of death, which were proper to artists like Johnny Cash, his legacy is in safe hands. Empathizing for his fans, those who struggle to pull the end of the month, those with hearts broken by love or life, comes naturally. That’s why his fans aren’t just fans, they’re a family. Roll enriched by the piano is a piece that touches on rock as in the pieces of Ward Davis, and in fact the friend and great artist is co-author of a sunny song and hope. Life is always hard and difficult, but you must never give up : “Yeah I know life ain’t easy / Man believe me I lose more than I win / Just gotta roll with the flow and the punches / You might get hit / You’re gonna get back up again”. Usually the band is exceptional, the rhythm and then the guitar solo are pure beauty. The album ends with When Whiskey Call The Shots, a song that oscillates between honky tonk and a distant flavor of funk, funny and ironic song at the end of the night. Country class gentlemen, not only is he a unique artist but also had the good fortune to find a band of great friends. Then the participation of so many sublime minds of American music, enriches this work, almost in the manner of Jimi Hendrix who in his studio recordings made participate friends artists and tried to enrich his music with the best of others. A work that leaves no doubt about who is the King of Independents, was nothing else that on the same day was also released a heavy metal record, with another band, which leaves open-mouthed for freshness and beauty. An artist who has never bowed to the music business, in fact created his music business that has as pillars its Flockers, its fans hard and pure, and his family, a man who had the courage of a lion and won his bet against those who told him to let go of this road, who did not believe that you could make music without going to the majors. My friends give yourselves emotions, listen to this masterpiece of American music and then if you don’t know it go and become fans of one of the most talented street poets of modern American music.
Good listening,
Trex Willer
you can find original italian article at this link : https://www.trexroads.com/mercy-cody-jinks-2021/ )
