Cody Jinks may have started out as a singer in a thrash-metal band (the volatilely named Unchecked Aggression), but it's his appreciation for Johnny Cash and outlaw country that informs his upcoming album I'm Not the Devil. From an unapologetic cowboy singer to a dazzling chanteuse-wordsmith Due August 12th, the record is the Texas singer-songwriter's interpretation of rule-breaking country, performed by a bearded, tattooed guy who looks the part. The album's title track, premiering below, finds Jinks asking for forgiveness, a bit of contrition at odds with his rough-hewn image. Jinks says the brooding ballad was hatched near the very end of the recording process at the Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, Texas, where Jinks' tourmate Whitey Morgan cut his 2015 Sonic Ranch album. (On the opposite end of the spectrum, contemporary country rocker Frankie Ballard also recorded his new record, El Rio, there.) "The album was pretty much done. The album title had been decided. On a hunch, I flew my buddy Ward Davis out to the studio to take a stab at writing together," says Jinks. "A few hours after he arrived and an incredible amount of beer consumed, we were recording 'I'm Not the Devil' and in turn renaming the album."
