Musician, composer and vocalist Cody Fry, 33, is enjoying a thriving music career built one step at a time. He started as a child jingle singer and continued to gain a musical skillset leading to number-one hits. “I’ve been doing this for a long time and the best way to grow is slow and steady,” he says.
Some might remember Cody from the fourteenth season of American Idol. Others will recognize his song “I Hear a Symphony,” an orchestral and vocal masterpiece that became a certified gold single. Fans also revere his GRAMMY-nominated classical hit “Eleanor Rigby,” a reimagining of the Beatles original. He has released eight studio albums and has numerous TV production credits, feature film scores, even a Super Bowl commercial.
Music comes as naturally to Cody as breathing, a fact that’s evident as we chat in the tidy home he shares with his wife, Haley, and their one year-old daughter. There are no managers or publicists, no assistant, just a relaxed morning talking music with this unassuming artist, his child’s toys in the corner and a tour of his compact spare-bedroom studio.
Growing up outside of Chicago, Cody and his three sisters often accompanied their dad, Gary, to work. “Dad was in the jingle business in the 90s,” Cody says. “It was really like a family business. My sisters and I sang in commercials for McDonald’s, Nintendo, Old El Paso and others. I really enjoyed it and it helped me pay for college.”
Gary Fry has written and produced over 2,500 commercials and is an arranger/composer for symphony orchestras, film scores, churches – just about every genre of musical entertainment. Cody’s mother, Carol, gave her son a guitar when he was young and
taught him how to play chords. He recorded four albums while attending New Trier High School and sold the CD’s out of a duffel bag. “They were the worst songs you’ve ever heard,” he laughs. He majored in commercial music at Belmont and was hired by singer-songwriter Ben Rector to play keyboards and guitars in his band. They toured for years while Cody continued composing and producing for himself and others.
He and Haley met while Cody was a music leader at Hendersonville’s Long Hollow Church, where she grew up. They married in 2014. When the two were dating, they recorded a song together, “Stop Breathing,” featured on Cody’s album, audio:cinema. The family can often be seen at Sump Coffee, Ladybird Taco or the couple’s favorite date-night spot, Margot Café & Bar. They’ve lived in three houses in charming Charlotte Park and are happily settled for the long haul.
Cody’s song, “Things You Said,” featuring vocalist Abby Cates, was China’s number-one English song in April, with two million streams per day. He plans to record English-Chinese duets with a popular Chinese artist through his Decca US label. “That’ll be super fun,” he says.
So how do his stunning, symphonic anthems, such as “Photograph,” “The End” or “London,” make it from a bedroom home studio to his fans’ playlists? “The process varies depending on what the track needs,” Cody explains. “Sometimes, I’ll program the instruments on my computer using Logic, then notate it. Other times I’ll do this process in reverse.” He then records in a studio with live orchestras. All of his albums were recorded at Nashville’s Ocean Way except for his latest, The End, recorded in London’s Angel Studios with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Once songs are released, they can surprise you, as Cody learned in 2021 when “I Hear a Symphony” went viral on TikTok. “How that happened is anyone’s guess,” Cody says. “I can’t take credit for it. It wasn’t part of some genius marketing strategy.” Like most artists, Cody monitors his streaming numbers and he noticed that the “Symphony” numbers were exploding. “Then my brother in-law said, ‘Hey, your song’s all over TikTok!’ I didn’t even have a TikTok account so I created one and my brother in-law showed me how to use the app.” Cody was blown away when he saw the tiktoks, reels and other videos that were using his song. “That experience changed my life,” he says.
These days he’s humming through a comfortable career after years of hard slogging. “I’m glad I went into this with starry eyes because I didn’t realize how long a career would take to build,” he says. “For me it has always felt exciting and fun, even amid the difficulties.”
“I love what I’m doing now,” he continues, “partnering with symphony orchestras and doing one or two shows a month.” Local fans can see Ben Rector and Cody perform with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on June 25 and 26. “It’s surreal that I get to perform with Enrico (Lopez-Yanez) in his home base,” Cody says. "He’s the type of conductor I want every orchestra to have access to. He's excited about bringing in new ideas and the crowd loves him.”
Cody’s also thrilled to tour with Ben again and orchestrate for him. “His music is so uplifting and so fun to hear live,” he says. Cody’s trademark monochromatic suits, created by Jeff Loring from Stitch It in Green Hills, add dazzle under the orchestral stage lights as his arms stretch wide and his voice soars through the octaves. For at least two shows, he’ll get to share the stage with his dad, who will be conducting. “I won the lottery with loving and supportive parents who knew I could make a music career because my dad was doing it. And I believe anyone willing to do the work can also make their music dreams come true.” CodyFry.com