Today, everybody wants to be a cowboy. Jon Pardi, though, was sporting a ten-gallon hat when his peers in Nashville were all wearing backwards baseball hats and skinny jeans. After initially gaining a foothold on Music Row with a bit of familiar-sounding bro country, the California cowboy was on the front edge of the current Western vogue, marrying a vintage aesthetic with music that was old-school in its craft and approach while being slick and modern enough to appeal to country radio listeners.
Pardi’s sophomore album, the 2016 release California Sunrise, was his critical and commercial breakthrough, with a string of hits that slowly became inescapable. Pardi’s consistency as a songwriter and vocalist helped quietly turn him into one of the country music industry’s most singular artists, someone who carved out his own distinctive role in a genre that tends to prize conformity. His effortless take on neotraditional sounds and gift for strong hooks has made him both successful on the radio and as an album artist, forever helping his fans uncover new corners of the dancefloor with bright, catchy songs.
Here are ten of Pardi’s best tracks, showing how even within his well-honed niche the country crooner has quite an impressive range.
Listen to the best Jon Pardi songs now.
“Longneck Way to Go” (with Midland) (2022)
Jon Pardi has found warmer reception at country radio than Midland, but the Texas trio has long been one of his only real peers when it came to contemporary interpretations of old-school country sounds. This collaboration, then, was a natural one, playing to Pardi’s strengths with a traditional two-stepping tempo and theme (easing the pain of a broken heart with a cold beverage) but with additional harmonies that add a fresh dimension to his sound.
“Heartache On The Dancefloor” (2016)
A little bubblier than Pardi’s other California Sunrise singles, his first “Heartache” tune is a lyrical “I Saw You” classified ad situated in Pardi’s beachy home state. Obviously, given the title, it’s perfectly suited to dancing just like so many of Pardi’s hits – its lightly chugging guitar and fiddle are propulsive whether listeners are in a more traditional Texas dancehall, line dancing in a bar, or just grooving on their own.
“Tequila Little Time” (2019)
Pardi’s entry into the ever-growing beach country canon, “Tequila” has a mariachi flair and an easy, loping feel well-suited to margaritas in a warm locale. The wordplay is classic country, and Pardi sells it much more convincingly than most of his peers could; and anytime you can get brass on a country song, you’re pushing the envelope in all the right ways. Pardi rarely reinvents the wheel, but this song is evidence of how skilled he is at putting just the right spin on well-worn tropes.
“Night Shift” (2016)
The last single on Pardi’s slow-burn California Sunrise album, “Shift” continued his streak of hits in ever-so-slightly salacious fashion (the titular night shift takes place – you guessed it – between some “cool, cool sheets”). It’s a rock n’ roll ode to “work hard, play harder,” with Pardi belting workingman’s double entendres that instantly become earworms. The song was the fourth from the album to get certified multi-platinum, a streak that anticipated a neotraditional country revival to come.
“Ain’t Always The Cowboy” (2019)
This evocative, expansive power ballad was a step outside the box for Pardi, whose bread and butter are songs that get people moving and drinking. The topic, about how sometimes even cowboys get their hearts broken by women who can’t be tied down, is also a little bit of a twist on country convention. All-star fiddler Jenne Fleenor gets a showcase as the song builds to an arena-ready jam and Pardi flexes his vocal power.
“Dirt On My Boots” (2016)
Pardi’s biggest single to date, “Boots” finds him using a slightly more pop/hip-hop inflected groove – one that’s tempered, in typical Pardi fashion, with a healthy dose of twang, banjo and fiddle. As much as the five-times platinum single is also Pardi’s most crossover-ready, there’s no question that it’s country. The single cemented him as a force to contend with, helping him win both the CMA award for new artist of the year and the ACM award for male vocalist of the year in 2017.
“All Time High” (2016)
This groovy album cut casts Pardi’s distinctive twang in a new, Southern rock-tinged light. It’s a little saucy, a vocal showcase for Pardi and an instantly memorable song that begs to be listened to on the open road. “The day I quit you’s the day I die” is one of those lines that it’s hard to believe hasn’t already appeared in 20 country songs.
“Last Night Lonely” (2022)
One of Pardi’s bigger hits, reaching No. 27 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and eventually getting certified platinum, “Lonely” finds the singer channeling a little more of a rock edge than he might typically, without losing his signature twang. With an unforgettable, sing-a-long ready chorus to go along with its healthy dose of pedal steel, this song shows Pardi’s ability to throw right down the middle of what’s working on the airwaves.
“Heartache Medication” (2019)
This double-platinum track is Strait country, with Pardi showing that even as a Californian, he could easily fit in at a Texas honky tonk. His clear country vocals fit perfectly with the track’s steel and fiddle, making for a new dancefloor classic that – in spite of its traditional sound – reached No. 1 on the country airplay charts.
“Head Over Boots” (2015)
Calling “Boots” Pardi’s breakout isn’t quite accurate; he’d already had a significant hit with “Up All Night.” But the low key shuffle marked the moment when Pardi set himself apart from Nashville’s crowd with a smart, slick neo-traditional sensibility that still fit in on the radio – it was his first single to top Billboard’s country airplay chart. Co-written by Pardi with Music Row stalwart Luke Laird, the classic-sounding love song also is hooky enough to demand audiences take a break from two-stepping to join in for the chorus.
