Cody Weaver Reckons with His Past on Newest Single, “One About the Devil”

The first step taken towards making a change is identifying a problem, and in the past year, Cody Weaver has looked within himself and is moving forward as what he feels is the best version of himself; he’s quit drinking and done some soul searching, all of which has culminated in the release of his newest single, “One About the Devil.”

Weaver’s newest single and accompanying music video depict the Florida native doing that inward reflection and choosing to fight to be his best self and banish his demons. If the view count on the “One About the Devil” music video is any indication, listeners are being struck by the song’s underlying message, while no doubt also being struck by the cinematography that Weaver and his team delivered in the video.

We caught up with Weaver to talk all about “One About the Devil,” as well as honing in on his sound, finding his audience, his plans for new music and more!

Pro Country: When we last talked, you mentioned that you hoped your last EP, Southern Noise, would “show people what you can do as an independent artist.” Now that time has passed since the release, what kind of statement do you feel you made with Southern Noise?

Cody Weaver: I feel like I found my sound a little more, and I think folks are realizing what I bring to the table: genuine music about life in the south. A little over a year after releasing that EP, I still have people just discovering my music, and I think it’s a great variety of what I can do; from softer bluegrass-esque to heavy rock and roll.

PC: Why did you feel that your new single, “One About the Devil,” was the right follow up to Southern Noise?

CW: Well it’s been a year of change, I quit drinkin’ and have been doing a ton of internal work, and this song relates closely to what I’ve been going through in the last few years. So it may or may not be the RIGHT follow up, but it was an important song for me on many levels, and I think it showed another example of what I’m creatively capable of.

PC: You’ve said “One About The Devil” is about breaking generational curses. Can you take us in the writing room and talk about the inspiration behind the song?

CW: It’s evident that I was inspired by the old Robert Johnson story, and all the songs that take on that same ol’ muse about gambling your soul with the devil, however I wanted to put my own spin on the story, make it more relatable to me and my journey of getting sober, and breaking the generational curse of alcoholism and abuse.

The video is meant to depict me running from my past, only to be forced to reckon with it, and instead of selling my soul, I decide to fight the devil face to face, and all along, the devil was me (or within me) the whole time. In the end new life emerges and all is made new, as my newborn son, Anson, makes his debut.

PC: You released a music video to accompany “One About The Devil,” which offers a cinematic approach to the song’s story. What was the experience like of bringing the song to life with the music video and filming the video in that way?

CW: Man, what an experience it was filming that video! It took us several months of filming, I nearly drowned myself (intentionally) in that tub for the effect of actually capturing real fear in my face on camera. We filmed in a few locations around Ft. Myers, including my home and a church that was built by Thomas Edison. There was such a vibe filming in there, it really captured the energy of the song and the old timey feel we were going for with each “character” being from a different historical timeline. We did everything ourselves, my guitarist Jarrad did all the camera work and editing, and we made our own props and costumes. Believe it or not, we completed the whole thing on less than a $1,000 budget. Just goes to show what you can accomplish as an independent artist when you put your mind to it 100%.

PC: In about a month and a half since its release, the music video for “One About the Devil” has surpassed 100,000 views on YouTube. How encouraging has the response to the video been in such a short span?

CW: I’m just elated that it’s done so well. Obviously with the dark subject matter behind the song, a spoken word section and even darker video, I had my concerns with how people would receive it, or that they’d misinterpret what I was trying to say, and some have, but overall, the support has been incredible, and I’m really blown away by its success!

PC: Of the things you can control, what are your plans for 2022?

CW: I have two more singles coming out this year, “New Suede Boots” & “Yellow Note.” They’re both vastly different from not only each other, but anything else I’ve released in the past. So the plan is to release those, with music videos, and to play bigger and better shows in more places far and wide.

PC: Is there anything you’d like to add?

CW: “One About the Devil” now has over 106k views on YouTube, which is totally crazy and I’m overwhelmingly grateful for all my listeners and viewers. All I can say is that I’m finding my niche a little more with each release, and it’s only going to get bigger and better!