Ryan Larkins – Singer Songwriter Stops By Kicks 99

It feels like a slow, sleepy time of year.  The month of January can drag with shorter days and often colder temperatures.  But there's one thing that can brighten my day... and that's a radio tour with a new artist.  That's exactly what happened at Kicks 99 yesterday.  We had singer/songwriter Ryan Larkins stop by.

Around 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, I was in my office when Chris O'Kelley's voice came over the intercom announcing we had an artist in the conference room if anyone wanted to come listen.  I love opportunities to meet new artists and hear some great live, acoustic music.  So, I grabbed my snack (hey, it was almost lunchtime) and headed into the conference room.

And that's where I met Ryan Larkins. I'll be honest... I didn't know the name and hadn't heard his music. But just hearing him talk, I had a good feeling we were in for a treat. The whole thing got started as they usually do with introductions and some fun banter between Tee, Chris O'Kelley, and the record rep.  Then we got to know a little bit more about the guy with the guitar.

Right off, we learned that Ryan Larkins is actually a Nashville native.  That's where he was born and raised, which isn't what you commonly hear from country artists.  Most of them move to Nashville to pursue their dreams.  Another interesting fact about Ryan... his dad was a Penecostal preacher and they didn't listen to the radio or watch TV when Ryan was growing up.  That means, he didn't know the first thing about country music in the early years of his life.

At some point, the church his dad was a pastor for needed a music leader.  That's when his dad told Ryan he needed to learn an instrument.  And soon after, Ryan was learning to play guitar.  We'd also learn that he started songwriting when he was 12 or 13 years old. After some time leading music at the church, someone told him that they should go on a show... and said they could be the next Brooks & Dunn.  We all laughed when Ryan told us, "I told him... that sounds great, but... Who's Brooks and Dunn?"

That's where Ryan started learning about country music and really dove into the classics.  He mentioned Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline... And he grew to love country music.

He told us that while he still loved playing and singing, he had another job that he didn't love.  Eventually his wife told him to go in and quit because he wasn't doing what God called him to do.  A few months after turning in his notice, he got a publishing deal.

When asked, Ryan said while he's been writing songs since he was a pre-teen, he's be writing "professionally" for about 5 years now.

Ryan has worked with some amazing songwriters in Nashville.  He talked about writing with Bill Anderson, and how one of those songs wound up being a record duet with Bill and Dolly Parton!  Imagine writing a song and having those big names record your song.

He's also written with Rhett Akins, Tom Douglas, Tim Nichols, and more.  One name he's written with is one I recently became acquainted with: Lee Thomas Miller.  Sound familiar?  That's because Lee Thomas Miller is one of the songwriters who's going to be performing at the KICKS 99 Songwriter Series at the Columbia County Performing Arts Center on March 8th!  Get details on that show HERE. Maybe we can get Ryan for next year's show? Hm...

Ryan told us a story about one particular songwriting experience where he was just talking about his wife and said something along the line of, "My life was black and white, but she's the painter."

Yep, that's right.  Ryan Larkins is one of the songwriters on "The Painter," which you've heard on KICKS 99, sung by this guy named Cody Johnson! How cool is that?

I love hearing about the new artists when they come through town.  But of course, I also love to hear their songs.  Ryan performed a few songs for us, including "The Painter."  He also sang his single, "King Of Country Music," and a gospel song, "I Can't Even Walk (Without You Holding My Hand)."

Check out these videos, and be sure to learn even more about this up and coming artist, Ryan Larkins, HERE.

Cody Johnson is well on his way to becoming one of country music's bigges stars. The former rodeo star, who now sells out arenas with high-action music concerts, is an award favorite at the CMA and ACMs.

Johnson makes sure he always leaves the audience with a memorable performance when it comes to taking the stage, whether at one of his concerts or an awards show. He told us, "Leave nothing behind. We play this show like it's the last show we're ever going to play. This is the show we get remembered for. I hit the stage with the exact same mentality and the exact same intensity every single night because we're not guaranteed tomorrow, so it's like you gotta go out there, and you gotta play it like it's the last one. You gotta play it with the same intensity as if you're never going to get to do it again."

Cody added, "Now, after the fact, we can be like, 'Man, that was cool,' but when you're in the moment… you're like, leave no doubt, leave nothing behind, make sure they remember your name."

Jan. 19 -- Sacramento, Calif. @ Golden 1 Center
Jan. 20 -- Anaheim, Calif. @ Honda Center
Jan. 26 -- San Diego, Calif. @ Pechanga Arena
Jan. 27 -- Glendale, Ariz. @ Desert Diamond Arena
Feb. 2 -- Nashville, Tenn. @ Bridgestone Arena
Feb. 9 -- Wichita, Kan. @ Intrust Bank Arena
Feb. 10 -- N. Little Rock, Ark. @ Simmons Bank Arena
Feb. 16 -- Sunrise, Fla. @ Amerant Bank Arena
Feb. 17 -- Jacksonville, Fla. @ Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena
March 16 -- Birmingham, Ala. @ Legacy Arena @ BJCC
June 1 -- Panama City Beach, Fla. @ Gulf Coast Jam
June 14 -- N. Lawrence, Ohio @ The Country Fest
July 11 -- Ft. Loramie, Ohio @ Country Concert @ Hickory Hills Lakes

As he gears up to hit the road this weekend (1/19), we take a look at four amazing music videos.

This is Cody's first song released under the Warner Brothers record label in Nashville. Although he did not write this song, Johnson says the song reflects on his many hardships and heartbreaks en route to finding the girl he's meant to be with forever. The lyrics of the song's chorus include: "All the stars I've seen / All the songs I've sung / All the beers I've drank / All the damage done / I was just passin' time / Kinda just passin' through / On my way to you."

This music video includes scenes of "fishing excursions, classic-car rebuilding sessions, family dinners" interspersed with footage of Johnson delivering a fiery solo performance of the song. He said of the video, "I love the storyline in the video. You think it's going in one direction, and then suddenly, you are surprised at the turn of events. When they sent me the rough edit of the video, it was so powerful and brought tears to my eyes. It put into perspective the song that I had been singing for months."

The song won the Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year and Video of the Year at the 56th Annual Country Music Association Awards in 2022.

Johnson wrote the song as a very personal tribute to his previous career in bull riding, which struck a chord with Reba McEntire, who grew up on a family ranch competing in barrel racing.

Reba said, "It was a thrill to sing 'Dear Rodeo' with Cody because we're both from the rodeo world. I grew up in a rodeo family; I'm a third-generation rodeo brat. So the song means a lot to me because I did leave rodeo to be in the country music business. I sure miss it."

Cody added, "The story behind 'Dear Rodeo' is more a story about life and less about rodeo. I feel like everybody has their own 'Dear Rodeo' story, and when I found out that Reba was impacted by this song enough to want to do a duet, it was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done in my career."

This music video shows the former bull rider riding horses and also scenes of him playing live in concert. It also shows video clips of Johnson roping cattle in a rodeo arena setting. Cody said that "Human" is his most autobiographical song to date.