Seeing Cody Jinks onstage, you get a sense of what it must've felt like to catch outlaw country legends like Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson back in the 1970s when their raw-boned brand of country music was hitting folks for the first time. Jinks brings his deep, rich voice to bear on tunes that manage to incorporate those influences while still feeling completely current. Jinks has as much rock 'n' roll in him as country, and you're as likely to hear him and his band cover songs by the likes of Dire Straits and Pink Floyd as you are to catch them playing tunes made famous by country giants like Alan Jackson and Keith Whitley. Either way, a Cody Jinks concert is first and foremost a party, where the whole audience gets involved in singing along and creating an atmosphere of fun and community.

Cody Jinks in Concert

Hailing from the Fort Worth suburb of Haltom City, Texas, Cody Jinks has forged a sound that bears strong links to fellow Texans like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. But even though classic outlaw country is a huge influence on Jinks, he actually started out as a rocker. Long before he ever became a country singer, he was the frontman for a metal band called Unchecked Aggression in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. He tapped into his deep country roots and reinvented himself in the late '00s, but the raw, rebellious spirit of rock 'n' roll will always be a part of Jinks' musical makeup. He released his first album in 2008 and gradually built up a grassroots following over the years. By the time he put out Lifers a decade later, his audience had grown to the point that the record made it to the No. 2 spot on the country charts, proving there's still a place in country music for rough-hewn individualism.