Cody Jinks

I’ve been doing this a long time. My dad showed me a few chords on this Takamine acoustic when I was 15 and I got a Fender Squire Stratocaster for my 16th birthday. Even though the first song I learned was “Long Black Veil” by Lefty Frizell, I wanted to do what every 16 year old wanted to do: I WANTED TO ROCK!

So, I worked and saved money, and with some help from Mom and Dad, I got a Marshall half-stack. If I wasn’t at school, playing ball, or working, I was in my room playing guitar. I’ve never been a great guitar player, but what I lack in ability, I make up for with passion.

When I was 17, me and some buddies started our first garage band and went through several names and lineup changes. That band became Unchecked Aggression: the first band that actually made a real record. Other incarnations had made demos going back to high school, but I was 21 when our first record came out (technically, our only record). We beat around the DFW area for a few years and built a pretty loyal following, but we weren’t managed and made almost no money, so we went to LA. That didn’t work out, so I came home to Fort Worth.

At 23, I got my old job back, and got a second job working the door at a bar in the Fort Worth stockyards. Rebecca and I got married, and I bartended a few more years until 2007 when I started playing music full time.

We stayed on the road constantly for the next decade, going from six-figures in debt to actually making a living. I didn’t get on my first tour bus until I was 36, but look at us now!

The highs and the lows: I’ve learned from them all. I do my best to share my story through song and show. There have been more than a couple of times I thought about hanging it up, but I just can’t. I didn’t choose music, music chose me, and it’s what I’m here to do.

My path has been unique to say the least: I’ve never really fit in with the music business or agreed with how things are done. I came from a DIY punk mindset of doing things the way I want to do them. When I was starting out I was in a metal band and we learned how to book ourselves, put on shows, and record in a studio. Later on I learned how to manage a band and route shows, which turned into booking our own tours. Our long time bass player, Josh Thompson, and I did that for the first six years we played together. We had to learn to do everything and we never stopped. We have also had great help from amazing people on the way to where we are now.

So, where do we go now? Up! We’re excited for the next chapter with the fans. We’re still excited we have the privilege to put our music out to the best fans in the world.