Cody Pennington brought the Nashville spirit to Nottingham turning Rock City into Cowboy City, for one night at least. Rich Morris braved the sea of cowboy hats and boots to experience the independent artist's music and spirit for himself...
There are few better ways to gauge an artist's connection with an audience than looking down from the balcony before the first note is played, and at Rock City on Friday night, the view was encouraging!
The crowd stretched from the packed front row to over three-quarters of the way back into the venue, which for an independent, self-represented Nashville country artist, is an impressive turnout. Cody Pennington's decision to bring his music across the Atlantic is clearly paying dividends.
This was Pennington's third visit to Nottingham and the audience appeared determined to make it feel like a homecoming. Cowboy hats and trucker caps checked shirts and even a scattering of neckties created a distinctly Nashville aesthetic. From the outset, there was plenty of clapping and a willing audience ready to meet Pennington halfway.
The set itself struck a comfortable balance between the familiar and the personal with classic and modern country influences allowing him to demonstrate both his appreciation of the genre while celebrating his latest album release.
Tracks such as Til you Can’t by the mighty Cody Johnson and Pennington's rendition of The Gambler by Kenny Rodgers sat neatly alongside original material. That included Downtown, a standout hit from his last album of the same title, to newer tracks including Til it Isn't and Cody, taken from his self-titled album released just this year.
What stood out though, was the relationship between artist and audience. Pennington is clearly comfortable in front of a crowd, and his interaction throughout the evening helped prevent the performance from becoming simply a run-through of songs. There was conversation, engagement and a sense that the audience was not merely watching the show but were participating in it. That is an important quality for an independent touring artist. Especially, one without the machinery and marketing budgets of a major-label country act behind him. Impressive!
Cody Pennington is building his audience one room at a time and nights like this demonstrate why that approach can work. Rock City may be a long way from Nashville, but for a couple of hours on this late summer Nottingham night, Cody made the distance feel considerably shorter. The cowboy hats may have been plentiful, but beneath them was something more significant; a crowd genuinely invested in the music.
Cody Pennington performed at Rock City on 4 September 2026.
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