Jon Pardi loves country music, even if he isn’t exactly sure what is part of the genre anymore. The Grand Ole Opry member says the genre has come to mean more than just the traditional country music that he grew up loving, and still loves today. But to be clear, Pardi isn’t complaining, about any of it.
“In all honesty, I don’t know what country music is anymore,” Pardi admits to Esquire. “We got HARDY heavy-metal country, we’ve got Beyoncé country, Morgan Wallen country, Jelly Roll. Everybody’s bringing in the stuff they grew up listening to, and it’s awesome. If it’s a good song and it’s moving the soul, and it has some semblance of country, we’re stamping it country music.”
Pardi is by nature more of a traditionalist in country music. But when it came to producing his fifth studio album, Honkytonk Hollywood, Pardi tapped Jay Joyce, a multi-genre producer who was worked with artists like Halestorm, The Wallflowers, Iggy Pop and more. For his very country new album, Pardi took a decidedly rock and roll approach.
“When I say ‘rock and roll,’ I’m talking about how we made it,” Pardi explains. “We didn’t tour, we didn’t move studios. We hunkered down. We drank whiskey after the sessions. It was like how you imagine the records on every poster on your wall.”
View this post on Instagram
Pardi bucked tradition in creating Honkytonk Hollywood, but the California native is still rooted in the city he now calls home.
“The Nashville piece of me is more of the business side, even though we’re basically in the honky-tonk business,” Pardi says. “I learned way more than I would in my small town in California. When I moved to Nashville, if you would have asked me my favorite restaurant, I would have said Olive Garden. But so much of my family, and especially my wife Summer’s family, is in California, and when we go back, you get that feeling of being raised there, that feeling in your heart and your emotions, and then that’s what you sing about.”
Pardi has a Top 25 hit with “Friday Night Heartbreaker,” the first single from his next record. When releasing the song, the father of two hinted that it was also the start of the next musical chapter for him.
“’Friday Night Heartbreaker’ kicks down the door of this next musical chapter,” Pardi says of his hit single. “I challenged myself to elevate in every aspect, and this is the tip of the spear for what’s to come. When I first heard the song, I knew instantly that I had to cut it… and what a journey it was recording alongside the professor, Jay Joyce. I’m as excited as I have ever been to share new music.”
Pardi also released “She Drives Away,” a tearjerker about being a father. He is spending much of the next few months on his Honkytonk Hollywood Tour. Find “Friday Night Heartbreaker” and all of Pardi’s music and upcoming shows at JonPardi.com.