Sometimes a collaboration feels planned. Sometimes it feels like the universe simply decided to make the call. For Brothers Osborne and Cody Johnson, it was apparently the latter.
While co-hosting Backstage Country with Elaina Smith, TJ and John Osborne revealed the almost-too-perfect story behind their collaboration on “Born and Raised Hell,” the new single from their album Watertown.
Brothers Osborne Collaborate with Cody Johnson
The brothers were already working on the song when TJ suggested that Johnson would sound great on it. John recalled, “We were recording this song in the studio and TJ was like, ‘Man, I think Cody would just crush a verse on this song.’ I mean, Cody can sing the phone book, but this one in particular kind of like sounds like his music and our music.”
Smith asked whether they recorded “Fool Proof” first; their collaboration featured in Johnson’s album, Banks of the Trinity.
The brothers were preparing to reach out to him when Johnson beat them to it.
John shared, “So as we were recording it, we were gonna text Cody and that same day he texted us saying, ‘Hey, I've got the song Fool Proof on my record. Would you guys be down to sing on it?” He chuckled, “I'm like, ‘One, of course, Yes, 100%. But two, we were actually going to text you about singing on our record.’”
Suddenly, the collaboration became a two-way deal.
Johnson suggested they simply do both. Within roughly 24 hours, Brothers Osborne and Johnson had agreed to appear on each other’s records.
“It’s completely coincidental,” John explained, although Smith understandably interpreted the timing as something closer to musical kismet.
They Go Way Back
The partnership also carries years of history.
The brothers knew Johnson before they all reached their current levels of success.
John said, “He had a big career in Texas, but when he just started coming to Nashville, we'd heard about this guy, Cody Johnson, and we hadn't met him yet. He cut a song or two of ours, and we heard it, and I was like, ‘Damn, this dude sings his ass off.’”
TJ joked, “Back in the day, he was opening for us, and now we're opening for him.”
Listen to “Born and Raised Hell” below.
Brothers Osborne - Born and Raised Hell (Official Music Video) ft. Cody Johnson
