Artists

It's May 1969 at Sonobeat's Western Hills Drive studio in northwest Austin, Texas. Singer/songwriter Cody Hubach is in session, recording Hooley, a tune that eventually will make him a local legend. A regular performer at The Red Lion club on West 6th Street in downtown Austin, Cody not only writes country-folk and blues songs, plays guitar, and performs throughout Central Texas, but he also creates unique metal sculptures that fill his yard as well as Central Texas art galleries. His scuptures – ranging from towering to mere inches tall – depict motion of every kind, and his favorite pieces feature wings and wheels with hidden motors that bring them to life. Commercial welder turned artist, as a favor to Sonobeat co-founder Bill Josey Sr., Cody fashions the huge metal frame for Sonobeat's home-built steel plate reverb that adds an echo effect to audio recordings. And, to return the favor, Bill Sr. records the aspiring singer/songwriter.

Born Albert Cody Hubach in Austin, Cody grows up just south of Austin in the tiny rural community of Manchacha (pronounced "man-shack" – Sonobeat's founders live there in the early '60s) and begins writing and singing at age 14. His songs are about people, places, things, and emotions he knows personally. Because so many of Cody's songs reflect the local people and places of his youth, Cody's nicknamed the "Manchacha troubadour". He records three of his original songs with Sonobeat in '69. Hooley, intended as the "A" side of a Sonobeat stereo 45 RPM single, is a generous and loving tribute to one of Cody's friends in Manchacha. Producer Bill Josey Sr. selects Right Now Rhyme as the "B" side, although he considers the third song, Bringin' That Money Home, an equally strong candidate for the single. Unfortunately, for reasons undocumented in the Sonobeat archives, Sonobeat never releases Cody's single. However, one likely reason may be that during 1969 Sonobeat is focusing on Austin-area progressive rock bands and feels it can't successfully market another country-folk flavored single (Sonobeat releases its first pure country single, by Ronnie and the West Winds, in 1968, years before Austin's progressive country movement takes root).

By the early '70s, Austin's progressive rock movement is being displaced by Austin's progressive country movement, so Cody returns in October 1972 to record a folk-inflected eponymous demo album at Sonobeat Studios on North Lamar in Austin. The album, again produced and engineered by Bill Josey Sr., features ten songs, including a cover of The 13th Floor Elevators' Splash 1 and a re-recorded version of Hoolie (spelled differently than the first version Cody records in 1969). Sonobeat typically shops its album masters to national labels, preferring to release only 45 RPM singles on its own label, and by 1972 has switched from more expensive vinyl albums to inexpensive audiocassettes to circulate to national label A&RArtist & Repertoire exeutives at record labels build and manage a roster of artists, connecting them to new songs and overseeing their recording activities. executives. Although the Sonobeat archives don't indicate whether Bill Sr. submits Cody's demo to any of the majors, we expect that he offers them to at least one or two, including to his friends at Columbia Records in Nashville, to gauge interest.

While recording with Sonobeat in '69, Cody introduces the Joseys to another south Austin singer/songwriter, Bill Wilson, with whom Sonobeat records a song demo album later in the year. Over the course of his career, Cody will sing many songs written by Wilson, and vice versa. Cody and Wilson share the stage in a folkfest that closes the Zilker Hillside Theater's summer season on August 10, 1969. Wilson writes Ballad of Cody to reflect their enduring friendship.

We also find a tape box in the Sonobeat archives marked "Cody and Lonnie". The tape in the box contains dubs of the three tunes Cody has recorded at Sonobeat's studio in 1969. We believe, though we're not sure, that "Lonnie" may be Lonnie Wages, who at one time serves as one of Willie Nelson's roadies based out of Austin and who may accompany Cody on these three tracks.

Among Cody's post-Sonobeat achievements are many self-released country-folk singles and albums, guest appearances on the albums of other influential Central Texas country artists including Willie Nelson, regular performances at honky tonks and clubs throughout Central Texas, and an appearance as himself in Willie Nelson's 1980 feature film, Honeysuckle Rose. Austin Mayor Gus Garcia proclaims October 24, 2002, "Cody Hubach Day" in recognition of Cody's efforts to establish Austin as the Live Music Capital of the World. In February 2003, Cody succumbs to cancer, leaving a legacy of songs written and sung from his heart.