Our guest this week on the Working Songwriter is Cody Diekhoff, better known as Chicago Farmer. He grew up in the small farming community of Delavan, Illinois, before moving to Chicago in 2003. Over the past two decades he has built a devoted following through relentless touring, first as a solo performer and more recently with this band, the Fieldnotes.
Along the way, he has shared stages with Robert Earl Keen, Todd Snider, Greg Brown, the Wood Brothers, Elizabeth Cook, Wayne Hancock, Greensky Bluegrass, Del McCoury, and Gene Ween.
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His album, Flyover Country, was recorded with members of the Band of Heathens and 2026’s Homeaid (released in March of this year) is his first full-length release in six years. Elmore Magazine says he has “the novelist’s gift of building a suspenseful story to a surprising conclusion.” While No Depression declared, “If the Midwest is looking for a voice, the search is over.” The Chicago Tribune praised him for “some of the better roots songwriting in Chicago today.”
Cody is a very, very old friend of mine. We were both coming up in the Chicago folk music scene 20 years ago. He’s one of my favorite modern artists, and he should have been on this podcast many years ago. I got the chance to catch up with him on the phone a few weeks ago to hear about his journey so far.
Photo courtesy of Chicago Farmer.
