Ian Munsick is planting his flag firmly in the ground. “There’s not a lot of cowboys in country music,” he tells Taste of Country Nights during a recent studio visit.
Munsick helped write Cody Johnson‘s “Leather,” the title track of the Leather album. So, we asked him to tell us something about Johnson that few people know.
“I can tell you that he actually is a cowboy, and there’s not a lot of cowboys in country music,” he said after pondering the question for a few seconds.
“There’s a lot of them that will put on the hat and play dress-up, but he is a cowboy, man.”
He’s not wrong — before he was a country star, Johnson was a rodeo star. He even has a song about it.
Related: Listen to Cody Johnson’s Song “Dear Rodeo”
“You have to respect that word, cowboy, because you can’t just put on a cowboy hat and be a cowboy. Anybody can wear a cowboy hat, but your spurs are earned,” Munsick insists.
A cowboy “is a special breed of person. It takes years of hard work, dirt and hurt, like [in] Cody’s song, ‘Leather.’ That’s what truly makes a cowboy.”
There are traditional artists in modern country music who are honest in their songs — many hunt, fish, farm and ranch, and don’t just wear cowboy garb as a fashion choice — but they’re few and far between in 2025.
Not Johnson — he’s as cowboy as they come, if you ask Ian Munsick.
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Gallery Credit: Jess
Top 20 Cody Johnson Songs Adored by COJO Nation
Cody Johnson has a way of captivating his fans with his heartfelt delivery and powerful, rugged vocals. His ability to get a crowd fired up and also draw them in for a sentimental ballad is unmatched. Although most know him for his hits “Human” and “‘Til You Can’t,” Johnson has been rocking the stage for quite some time. Let’s take a look at his Top 20 songs.
