FARGO — When country star Cody Johnson plays to about 15,000 fans at the Fargodome Saturday night, about 2,000 people can say, “I saw him when he played Bluestem Amphitheater in 2021.”
To which about 700 diehard fans will say, “Hold my beer. I saw him play a sold-out Sanctuary Events Center in 2019.”
The Texan’s star has continued to rise since he first played Fargo five years ago, winning CMT and Country Music Association Awards in 2022 for “‘Til You Can’t,” his only no. 1 hit on the radio charts to date.
The singer has been getting lots of love from country radio.
John Austin, program director at Fargo’s Bob 95 FM said his station has been playing “Til You Can’t,” “On My Way to You,” “The Painter,” “Human” and the most recent single, “Dirt Cheap.”
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Austin said the singer’s appeal is pretty simple.
“He’s just so genuine. He is who he is. He’s a real cowboy, used to ride in rodeos,” he said. “He was a star down in his native Texas for years and then he got national exposure and now he’s doing great.”
Johnson grew up in Sebastopol, Texas, and started playing music at 12, performing in church and school and then bars in the region. At the same time he was making a name for himself on the music scene, he was riding bulls in rodeos and used that as inspiration in his 2020 duet with Reba McEntire, “Dear Rodeo.”
He started his band in 2006 and released six albums over the next decade, landing his first two national hits with 2013’s “Dance Her Home” and 2016’s “With You I Am,” all self-released under his CoJo label.
In 2018 he became the first independent artist to sell out the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which holds about 73,000 for concerts.
By the time he made his Fargo debut in January of 2019, he was picking up steam on his breakthrough single, “On My Way to You,” from his Warner Music Nashville debut, “Ain’t Nothin’ To It.”
Austin saw one of Johnson’s early shows and said the star power was evident.
“He’s so high energy. The explosiveness of the stage show gets people fired up,” he said.
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“Fargo really likes its country music,” said Sarah Dykema, director of marketing and sales at the Fargodome. “We’re really grateful to get him here.”
She added that the show is looking to be a full house as the Dome will be configured to hold about 15,000.
She compares him a bit to rodeo/country icon George Strait — an influence on Johnson — as well as Chris Stapleton.
“He’s one of those guys that you’ve heard so many of his songs even if you don’t know the name,” she said.
Opener Justin Moore, who co-headlined the Dome in 2017 with Lee Brice, also has Johnson’s genuine appeal. Moore last played WE Fest in 2018 and The Lights in West Fargo in 2022.
Fargo concert promoter Jade Nielsen of Jade Presents said having different sized venues in the area allows fans to see acts like Johnson and Moore rise through their careers. He booked Johnson's previous two shows at Sanctuary Events Center and Bluestem Amphitheater.
“It happens more often these days because we have the venues in this market to make those steps,” he said. “We’re really missing a big one with a 2,000-3,000-seat venue for acts.”
He points to acts like Turnpike Troubadours and Sturgill Simpson, who have gone from lesser-known opening acts to headlining the Fargo Theatre and are now playing even bigger spaces. On the rock side he notes that bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Shinedown worked their way up from playing the old Playmakers Pavilion and later The Venue to headlining Fargodome shows.
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“Cody is a great example of someone who did a great job building a following,” Nielsen said. “It’s nice to see a good guy do so well.”
If you go
What: Cody Johnson with Justin Moore and Drake Milligan
When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, May 18
Where: Fargodome
Info: Tickets range from $45 to $150. fargodome.com
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