Jon Pardi Doesn’t Know What Country Music Is Anymore—and That’s “Awesome”

Can Country Traditionalism Make Jon Pardi the Genre's Next Superstar?

It’s been a decade since Jon Pardi reached the top of the Country Airplay chart for the first time with “Head Over Boots.” Written by Pardi, Luke Laird, and Spencer Saylor, the song brought “an old-old-old school country vibe, more Hank Williams than Hank Williams III.” Ten years later, Pardi, 39, is gearing up to release his fifth studio album, Honkytonk Hollywood, on Friday, April 11. The album may sound a little different from his older material, but so, he says, does country music.

Jon Pardi Is Trying Something New

Something has shifted in the last few years, with artists like Jelly Roll and Post Malone crossing over into country music from seemingly opposite genres. And while Jon Pardi cut his teeth on a more traditional sound, the CMA Award winner believes there’s room for everyone.

““In all honesty, I don’t know what country music is anymore,” Pardi recently told 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.”


With the genre’s definition rapidly evolving, Pardi decided he felt safe to do a little experimenting of his own. The result is Honkytonk Hollywood, or what he calls “the most grown-up record I’ve ever made.”

As its title suggests, Honkytonk Hollywood strikes a balance between Nashville—the city Pardi has called home since 2008—and his home state of California.

How Tom Petty Inspired His Latest Work

Inspiration for Honkytonk Hollywood struck Jon Pardi when he was watching the 2021 documentary Somewhere You Feel Free, about the making of Tom Petty’s Wildflowers album. Petty spoke about working with different producers every few albums just to challenge himself. Taking note, Pardi enlisted Grammy-winning producer Jay Joyce to work on his fifth studio album.

While the writing process wasn’t exactly “anti-Nashville,” it also “wasn’t a part of the machine that we’ve been in,” the country star said.

“It had that feeling of, ‘Wow, this is so fun and new,’” Pardi continued. “Looking back, everything Tom was talking about was so true.”