Backyards of Key West Podcast with Mark Baratto 101: A Behind The Scenes Talk with Musician Cliff Cody
In this episode, Mark Baratto sits down with singer-songwriter Cliff Cody.
We talk about how he went from bouncer to songwriter to give it a shot in Nashville. With nothing lucrative insight and family life calling, Cliff gave up music and moved to his wife’s hometown in Ohio.
After many nights staring at his guitar sitting in the corner, Cliff picked up that 6 string again to give it one more shot, (with a little motivation from his wife), and the rest is now history!
More on Cliff Cody
Working as a bouncer at a West Texas honky-tonk, Cliff Cody’s life changed forever when the waitress dared him to sing at Karaoke Night. Lucky for Cliff, a band was in the audience looking for a lead singer. They offered Cliff the job that night. The next day he bought a guitar, a week later he had written his first song and 6 months after that, he moved to Nashville. After living in Nashville for 4 years with little success, Cliff went back to school and became an RN. While at a songwriter’s retreat in Wyoming, he met his songwriting hero—D. Vincent Williams and he told Cliff something that would change his path. “Whatever “it” is, you’ve got it and I don’t think you even realize it.” That was the encouragement he needed and in 2005 Cliff signed his first publishing contract with EMI/Sony Music. “Chasin Whiskey” was Cliff’s first cut and recognized as a highlight of Julie Roberts’ album “Men and Mascara” by Rolling Stone Magazine. Cliff’s second cut was “Glad You’re Gone”, a song he co-wrote with the members of Halfway to Hazard David Tolliver and Chad Warrix. He co-wrote “Gotta Go to Heaven” with artist Josh Thompson and co-wrote the first single on D. Vincent Williams’ freshman album, “Down by the River.” Since first playing the Key West Songwriters Festival 12 years ago, Cliff has become a favorite and regular performer in the Keys. He has opened for Dwight Yoakam, Gary Allen, Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, Phil Vasser, Aaron Lewis, Blackberry Smoke, David Allan Coe, Parmalee, Tracey Lawrence, Travis Tritt, The Charlie Daniels Band, Chris Young, Justin Moore, Ashley McBride and many more. Cliff made the Top 15 national finalists on the ABC talent Show “Rising Star” and wrote a song for the book, “The Shoe-Burnin’ – Stories of Southern Soul” available on Amazon. His soulful voice and story telling style of writing has helped Cliff build a loyal following. He makes fast friends and forever fans and once you hear him, you become both. Cliff met his wife Amy at the legendary Bluebird Cafe and they married in 1998. They live in a log cabin with their 125 pound rescue dog–Bronx in the hills of Appalachian Ohio. They are enormously proud of their only child, Veronica who is an honor student at Ohio Wesleyan University—who doesn’t call home nearly enough.
Where to find Cliff
Website: https://www.cliffcody.com
Where he’s playing: https://www.cliffcody.com/calendar
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cliffcody
