From Taco-Shop Patios to Billy Bob’s
A Texas road band, built the hard way
Kody West grew up in Denton, Texas, on a steady diet of country legends like Johnny Cash. He picked up a guitar at nine and mostly taught himself, and his first gigs were anywhere that would have him — taco shops and any bar with a patio that would give him a couple of hours.
Then he learned the business from the inside, working as tour manager for Texas artist Dalton Domino before opening the shows himself. His 2016 EP Higher Ground and 2017 debut album Green put him on the map alongside Texas country names like Koe Wetzel and Flatland Cavalry, and he has since shared stages with Whiskey Myers and Charlie Robison and recorded a live album at the world-famous Billy Bob’s Texas.
The sound keeps one boot in the red dirt and the other on a fuzz pedal: classic country storytelling with late-’90s rock crunch, songs about hard work, heartbreak, and hanging on. More than 400 shows in, he’s also one of the most fan-friendly artists in Texas music — the kind of performer who sticks around after the show to shake hands.