Today’s spotlight artist is an incredible singer-songwriter from Adair, Oklahoma. Cody Hibbard may not fit the mold that people have made around country singers, but he is as real and as a talented as they come. Keep reading to learn more about his story.

“I was adopted when I was 13 months old to a family in Adair, Oklahoma,” began the singer. ” I grew up on a 368 acre farm. Farm life and country life was pretty much all I knew, and pretty much still all I know.” Despite learning to play guitar and piano when he was young, Hibbard never considered that music could be in his future. “I was always musically-inclined, but it was never on my mind that I was ever going to pursue this.”

Instead, he listened to music while working hard on the family farm or on drives with his parents. “I listened to mostly country music growing up […] When I would ride with mom, she would listen to Christian, gospel, music 24/7. […] That’s where you get some of the soul behind the music that I write,” he shared, adding, “Then my dad also loved classic rock. […] That’s where you get a lot of the heavy guitar and more of the polished sound in my music, because I enjoyed listening to everything from Def Leppard to whatever was playing on our local rock station.”

Hibbard also recalls developing a liking for artists like Dierks Bentley and Joe Nichols after attending a local festival in Oklahoma. “I remember that sound. It had that classic country vibe, but kind of more in your face so to say that I really liked.”

The Turning Point:

Armed with talent that he was never planning on using, Hibbard joined the United States Naval Academy after graduating high school. Unfortunately, he got hurt, which led him to head to college for a semester. “A buddy of mine asked if I wanted to go pipelining over the summer and we’ll go back to school in the fall, and I said sure. Went pipelining, got my first paycheck, and called mom and said I’m not going back to school.”

After pursuing a hardworking career in pipelining, Hibbard went to visit his friends in Texas in May of 2019. While at a restaurant, he noticed that the waiter was acting strange to which the waiter replied, “I don’t want to offend you…” Hibbard shared, “I said ‘there’s nothing in this world that will every offend me.’ And he said ‘You don’t sound how you look.’”

The singer’s friend went on to add, “man if you think that’s weird, you gotta hear him sing.” This led him to the opportunity to sing at the restaurant with just the three songs he knew how to play. The manager liked him so much that he invited him to come back to play a gig, after he learned more songs.

“I went and learned some songs, came back, and a few weeks later I met my guitar player and his brother. They asked if I knew how to write music and when I said no, they told me to try it out, and that’s how it all started!”

That incredible event led Hibbard to slowly start pursuing singing and writing music, even though he did not know what to expect from the music industry. He just continued to work “harder than anyone else.” “I was just thrown into this thing,” shared Hibbard, who eventually connected with the right people, landing himself a publishing deal with  Sony Music Publishing Nashville and Droptine Music.

Today:

Flash forward to today, Hibbard is continuing to grow his artistry as he releases more and more music out into the world. Recently the singer released, “We Speak Country” and “Beer Problem.” While both songs speak to the singer’s talent and charisma, “We Speak Country” speaks to Hibbard’s character and inclusivity.

“The song came to me and I kind of laughed […] I started really diving into it a little bit more, and I was like man this is everything that we do. This is that small town feeling without saying small town. It’s exactly how I grew up and at the same time,” he shared. “I hate this whole [country music debate], it irritates me because where I grew up everyone was country. It didn’t matter if you were the emo kid, to the rock and roller, to the jock, to the band nerd, because I was all of those. I loved Paramore as much as I loved being the drum major, as much as I loved being baseball captain. I was all that, and no one thought anything of being country or not country. It wasn’t a debate.”

Hibbard is building a fanbase that is accepting and inviting, even if you do not sound how you look. “This song is me to a tee. It’s where I grew up, but it’s also an anthem for a lot of us.” Fans can continue to look forward to more new music coming down the pipeline soon, as well as, more shows being added to the books as we speak!

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