It was a great night for country music on January 21st in Southaven, Mississippi as country music artist, Cody Johnson along with Jesse Raub Jr. and Randy Houser came to perform a sold out show on his tour at the Landers Center! 

The opening act of the concert, Jesse Raub Jr. had a interesting true country sound and was thrilled to be apart of the show! He performed several songs of his including Things I Shouldn’t Have, Good Man Go Wrong, Working Man’s Woman, Loving All Night, Mistakes, and I’d Look Good On You! It was definitely a great way to start out the concert!

“I’m so thankful to be home tonight, thank y’all so much for making me feel welcome tonight!” said Mississippi native, Randy Houser during his set of the show. Houser performed a few of his songs including Boots On, Whistlin’ Dixie, How Country Feels, Note To Self, Like A Cowboy and Runnin’ Outta Moonlight. He also performed two covers, Troubadour by George Strait and Don’t You Think This Outlaw Bit’s Done Got Out Of Hand by Waylon Jennings. 

The crowd was excited as the country music artist, Cody Johnson joined the stage first performing his song, Let’s Build A Fire, followed by the tune entitled, Y’all People, which is dedicated to Johnson’s fans. Cody Johnson performed a variety of his hit songs during the concert including With You I Am, Dance Her Home, Diamond In My Pocket, Longer Than She Did, Dear Rodeo, Nothin’ On You, Son Of A Ramblin’ Man, Never Go Home Again, On My Way To You, Human, Doubt Me Now, Me and My Kind and closed the show with his first #1 single, ‘Til You Can’t! 

He also performed a encore, performing a beautiful cover of one of The Chicks’ songs, Travelin’ Soldier. Along with those, Johnson performed two other cover songs during the show as well including the version of Red Dirt Road, which he was featured in, on the Brooks & Dunn’s Reboot album and Long Haired Country Boy by Charlie Daniels Band. 

All of the songs Cody Johnson records has a special meaning to him including the song entitled, Dear Rodeo. The single features country music icon, Reba McEntire as well. In 2021, Cody Johnson released a documentary called “Dear Rodeo: The Cody Johnson Story” which is based around the song and his life. The country music artist talked about the making of the documentary during the show! “I want to say thank you for that, not only just for your support but for supporting something that I did for a completely different reason other than fame,” said Johnson. “The reason we recorded the documentary had nothing to do with streaming numbers, it had nothing to do with getting in the spotlight. It was something that we wanted to do, that I personally wanted to do, to try to spread a good message. And that message is this, when one door opens, remember who’s in control of the doors. When one door closes, remember who’s in control of the doors.” 

Johnson continued, “I thought that whenever I stopped riding bulls that was it for me with rodeo and it’s funny how his plan is better than mine because now I rodeo more than I ever did when I was riding bulls. Tonight, I want you to know that this comes from the bottom of my heart, I lived this song in order to write it down on paper. One of the hardest things I’ve ever done to give it to you tonight.” 

One of the memorable moments during the concert was when Cody Johnson took a few minutes in the show to express how appreciative and thankful he was for everyone being there. “You know after fifteen years of being in the country music business, I’ve seen every side of it from a little honky tonk in Texas, all the way to a sold out show in Mississippi tonight. It makes me feel very thankful standing in front of all of you. You might go see some artists and they’ll tell you thanks for being here and I’m not sure whether it’s genuine or not, but I’m going to tell you right now standing in front of all of you, my heart is very full when I look out at this sold out arena tonight and I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Photo by Justin Ford

Along with that, Cody Johnson talked about the song which is the title of his album, Human: The Double Album. The music video for the single featured himself and his family, alongside moments through his career and he talked about how they recorded the video. “This next song I’m going to play you is probably the most personal thing I’ve ever recorded, I didn’t think that was possible after recording a song like Dear Rodeo but my friends, Tony Lane and Travis Meadows wrote one of the coolest songs I’d ever heard.”

Johnson continued, “Well I want you to know the reason why we recorded it that way was not to get a #1 hit. It wasn’t to get a #1 video. The reason I chose this song, the reason I chose that way to record that video is because I wanted to introduce myself to you and say this is who I really am. Those are my kids, that’s my wife, that’s my buses, that’s the crowds that we go play for. When you watch that video that’s as real as it gets,” said the artist. “We’re all doing this thing together called life, we’re all human here tonight and I think it’s something we often times forget and we needed to be reminded of. I hope you enjoy this song, I hope it touches your heart the way it touches mine.”

Along with that, Cody Johnson talked about his wonderful single, ‘Til You Can’t before performing it for the crowd! “I want to thank you for being a country music fan ‘cause in the year of 2022 I got my very first #1 on the Billboard Country Charts with this song because of you guys!” said Johnson. It’s unquestionable, Cody Johnson is definitely one of the best country music artists to go see live in concert! He has a great traditional country music sound through his music and his live show! Along with that, Johnson is a fantastic entertainer and is true to his country roots! Every country music fan should certainly go see Cody Johnson in concert!

A big shoutout to the Landers Center as well, they have great hospitality, easy parking and amazing food! Definitely a wonderful venue to come visit and enjoy a country concert!

Be sure to follow Cody Johnson on his social media including on his Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and at his website, www.CodyJohnsonMusic.com.

Have you seen Cody Johnson in concert before? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so leave me a comment below or on social media!