Jon Pardi Says “I Don’t Know What Country Is” as New Album Tanks
It truly is a shame that it appears we have to bid adieu to Jon Pardi as a country music traditionalist, and one that was embedded in the mainstream no less, giving him a unique opportunity to change the music for the better from the inside out. No matter where Pardi goes from here, he’ll still be partially responsible for turning country more country. But that chapter of his career appears to have come to a close with the release of his latest album Honkytonk Hollywood, produced by the always-dubious Jay Joyce.
As was said in the review for the album, it’s not terrible or anything, but it certainly takes Pardi away from his more traditional-leaning past. Lo and behold, it appears that was part of Pardi’s plan. In the lead up to the album release, Jon spoke to Esquire and basically spilled the beans.
“In all honesty, I don’t know what country music is anymore,” Pardi said. “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.”
It’s the “and it’s awesome” part that’s really stings, and the “we’re stamping it country.”
You can’t say that Jon Pardi isn’t partially correct with his assessment. But on the other side of this coin you have fast-rising traditionalists like Zach Top completely upsetting the apple cart. Top’s latest album Cold Beer & Country Music currently sits at #4 on the Billboard Country Albums charts, beating out Jelly Roll, while Beyoncé is nowhere to be found in the Top 100.
Jon Pardi could have gone the traditional country route like Zach Top since Pardi helped pave it, but instead he said to Esquire, “Well, hell, let me do some stuff. Maybe it’s time when I can step out a little.” And step out he did.
Speaking of the charts, how did Jon Pardi’s rather abrupt about face into pop country fare? Not too good it turns out. According to Billboard, Honkytonk Hollywood debuted at a paltry #27. That’s far and away the worst showing of his career. All his other albums debuted in the Top 5.
For comparison, coming in right behind Jon Pardi was the Turnpike Troubadours and their new album The Price of Admission. Considering it was a surprise release from an independent artist with no physical copies available at the sale date, this probably what you would expected. Turnpike songs were streamed 8.6 million times the debut week compared to Pardi’s 8.9 million, though Pardi’s album had six more tracks, meaning more opportunity for streams.
Unlike Jon Pardi and Honkytonk Hollywood, The Price of Admission by the Turnpike Troubadours feels like a turn towards a more traditional country sound than previous albums from the band. You’re also seeing a pretty unbelievable positive reception for the Turnpike album that might pay off greater into the future. The Troubadours have also made CDs and vinyl available for pre-order, with product shipping on June 27th.
It may take some time for us to assess the impact of Turnpike’s The Price of Admission. For Jon Pardi, don’t be surprised if Honkytonk Hollywood takes a deep nosedive south in the charts in the coming weeks. It’s probably not fair to compare these two artists so side by side. But it does speak to the fork in the road many country artists face at the moment. You can choose to go the Beyoncé and Jon Pardi route and potentially flop, or you can try and follow traditional country and Zach Top to the top of the charts.
Choose wisely.
April 24, 2025 @ 8:00 am
The current identity crisis of Country music bothers me less than how the near entirety of music is over-produced, badly produced, and pitch corrected. Almost everything popular is a wall of over-produced sound.
April 24, 2025 @ 9:32 am
Gonna disagree, If people continue to compare FM radio to the actual music that is being played out there then your assertion is correct. However, taste (music,food) of people can not be accounted for when they are lazy. Turn on a commercial FM radio station or eat at a crappy fast food place you cant complain of what you hear or eat. Its your fault.
Artists on the other hand need to figure out where they want to be in a career. Sometimes they come out the gate knowing their direction while others are not so sure and flail around for awhile.
My guess is if Pardi is serious he will refocus on whats important and get back to making good music.
April 24, 2025 @ 11:16 am
I was being somewhat hyperbolic in saying “the entirety of music”. Country music has had other periods of “identity crisis” but there was still good music that stood the test of time. The modern audio production and pop “sound” is what I have a problem with. Jelly Roll, Beyonce, Morgan Wallen, and this extends into most pop music and Christian music (CCM..which I don’t listen to) it’s over-produced and the production of the vocals makes it sound inhuman in comparison to older music, and the instrumentation is often a ‘wall of sound’ – as if it doesn’t sound that way the intended listener will get bored and check their social media feed again. It’s going to be the third decade now where Country music and it’s big labels turn out crap for the mainstream and the “re-warming” of older genres and the integration of rap and pop elements is going to leave a bunch of forgettable and briefly lucrative songs for a few people invested.
April 24, 2025 @ 8:07 pm
I couldn’t have said it better myself. CCM especially has suffered extensively from lazy production and songwriting
April 25, 2025 @ 4:24 am
This is exactly why my listening preferences are now for Red Dirt/Texas Country. Those artists are in my opinion more genuine and “real country” than pretty much anything mainstream radio plays nowadays. Yes it can be hard to find a radio station that plays the format, usually relegating it to a secondary HD2 or whatever location, but what I find there satisfies my needs for country music listening. Kudos to 99.7 The Wolf Oklahoma Country for their HD2 station “The Rooster” and for keeping it country.
April 26, 2025 @ 10:38 am
We miss real country music.We dont care about cross overs.We hate the Pop sound.We want our music Country or Western.
April 24, 2025 @ 8:04 am
A friend shared the debut single (which I hadn’t heard despite the fact that it had been out for a while) on social media a while back and lamented the change. The album wasn’t out yet so I held out hope that this was a one-off thing, but apparently not.
April 24, 2025 @ 8:11 am
Ah it’s a shame. He’s someone I had always liked and it’s funny despite the headline when I read his quote I was like yeah I agree and then he hit us with the and it’s awesome. Oh well.
Also just I have had more time to digest the turnpike album and yeah I really do love it. Ranking their albums is so tough for me considering how consistent they are but it’s genuinely been wonderful getting as obsessed with their new songs as I have been their previous stuff.
April 24, 2025 @ 10:15 am
It ain’t a shame… it’s a great thing.
Go listen to:
She Gets To Drinking, She Drives Away, He Went to Work, Honkytonk Hollywood, Love the Lights Out, Bar Room Blue, Nice Place to Visit, Kinda Wanna Keep it That Way, Hard Knocks.
All great country songs by a great artist. It slaps
The pop side is still decent to me. “Gamblin Man” is an awesome song
April 25, 2025 @ 6:15 am
I hate gamblin man i think its one of the shitty songs on the album
April 24, 2025 @ 8:39 am
This tracks with the collapse of the family.
If country music is regarded as a family — as it has been — it is now so broken and commodified (no one cares, do what you want, “it’s awesome”) that it may only survive long-term as a family member in the culture of bluegrass and old-time. And a few heroic but ultimately tragic figures along the way.
Unless something changes.
April 24, 2025 @ 9:49 am
I respectfully disagree with this. My assessment is that country in country music is in a dramatic resurgence, spearheaded by the rise of Zach Top and a host of other artists. The tanking of Beyonce’s album and the poor initial reception for Jon Pardi’s is evidence of this. Yes, there are a lot of pop folks moving on country at the moment. But this is a distraction from the more underlying moment actual country artists and their fans are experiencing. It’s a shame Jon Pardi is not a part of this.
April 24, 2025 @ 1:13 pm
We’ll see. There are short and long trajectories. Some things have a moment, and then they recede. Been that way for a long time. The most hopeful signs for me are the ones in which young artists reach back and connect themselves, like people do with genealogical trees. This means that they not only see but embrace what they’re doing as part of a family lineage. They honor their fathers and mothers. What I see is a whole lot of what psychologists call “individuating” and not enough “familiating.” And I think that’s a big underlying force to a lot of what we’re seeing, exceptions granted. But again, identifying general long-standing trends is like predicting the future.
April 24, 2025 @ 8:12 pm
Major label artist for the most part still are not playing traditional country music. Despite this idea that “traditional country” it’s surging you won’t hear much of it at your local country bar or on FM radio. And pop/EDM country is so heavily promoted on social media and Tik Tok it’s a hard to escape. People are listening to more independent stuff for sure and there is a lot of it out there. Traditional country is still being recorded. But you have to search for it to find it still. Traditional country is not being shoved in your face like the pop trash that’s so pervasive
April 24, 2025 @ 2:15 pm
You seem to be putting a whole lot of eggs in that Zach Top basket. Other traditional-leaning artists have been stiffing at radio consistently. Parker McCollum’s “What Kinda Man” looks to be sinking without a trace far short of the top 20. Scotty McCreery, coming off three big hits, found himself on the outs with radio’s PDs with “Fall of Summer.” Chayce Beckham’s “Everything I Need,” as tuneful and country-sounding bit of pop-country as I’ve heard lately, couldn’t even crack the top 30. Female artists are back to being the tomatoes in the salad again, with Carly Pearce the latest to fail to make an impression, right after Lainey Wilson’s label was forced to rush another formulaic truck song to radio after its first choice for a single stiffed. If there was a traditionalist trend developing last summer, this spring has seen its momentum halted, but for Zach Top, who apparently now is the lone traditional tomato in the salad.
I want to see more evidence this turnaround that you’ve been using Top as an example of. To me, radio seems to be turning back in the bro direction, maybe because the 18-34 females its advertisers are targeting prefer the pop and hip-hop influences Pardi now champions.
April 24, 2025 @ 4:57 pm
Well, radio is a whole other story. Of course traditionalists are getting stiffed at radio. That doesn’t mean they aren’t surging. Though not exactly hardcore traditional, Ty Myers is currently at #18 on the albums chart as well.
April 25, 2025 @ 9:00 am
I never disputed that real country is surging, just your take that Top is part of a big turnaround on country radio. That’s what I’m not seeing. If bro country is fading, what’s replacing it owes more to hip-hop and EDM and CCM than traditional country music.
The last few times more genuine country surged, Nashville and eventually country radio got on board. That’s what happened in the mid-’70s with Willie and Waylon and Emmylou and what happened through the ’80s with Strait and Skaggs and Whitley and (for a while) Garth. Maybe it will happen again here in the ’20s this year or next or the next year. But damn, except for Top, it sure doesn’t seem to be happening now.
April 25, 2025 @ 12:04 pm
I definitely agree that radio is lagging in the “more country” resurgence, though I would say it has moved in that direction ever so slightly. Then again, radio has never been less relevant, in part because it’s not participating in the twang movement.
April 30, 2025 @ 8:49 pm
Uh, Beyoncé’s album tanked? The one that moved a million units and won Album of the Year and Best Country Album? It may have not been trad or pure country, but I’d hardly classify it as “tanked”.
April 30, 2025 @ 9:54 pm
“Cowboy Carter” did have a strong debut. But people just are not streaming the album, nor supporting it with continued sales. This is not an opinion. It’s an empirical truth when compared with other titles.
You can see a data analysis here:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/on-the-incredible-chart-cratering-of-beyonces-cowboy-carter/
April 24, 2025 @ 11:18 am
I would blame the internet and social media. Almost every social ill in the past 25 years can directly be tied to it.
April 25, 2025 @ 8:04 am
For once, Strait and I are in complete agreement. I’m currently reading a book called The Anxious Generation, whose thesis is that the marked uptick in mental health issues in young people is tied directly to the invention of smart phones and 24 hour internet access.
April 24, 2025 @ 8:58 am
Trigger – thanks for this assessment. Any concerns with the fact that Whiskey Myers just announced an album release with none other than Jay Joyce as producer?
April 24, 2025 @ 9:52 am
I’m going to choose to remain positive about Whiskey Myers and Jay Joyce. Though I do believe Joyce has screwed up some contry albums in the past including Pardi’s, his track record is a bit better when it comes to more rock-oriented country acts like Eric Church and Ashley McBryde. Jay Joyce is a rock guy. That is why he tends to push the artists he works with more in that direction. For Whiskey Myers, it might be fine. Also, since they’re a band an not a solo performer, hopefully this keeps the Jay Joyce overproduction at bay. I think the lead single sounds fine.
Might have more on Whiskey Myers soon.
April 24, 2025 @ 3:02 pm
Thanks for the feedback. I will remain so also.
One question I have been pondering a lot lately is the symbiotic relationship between southern rock and country music and whether or not you think country music sends more fans to southern rock type artists or the opposite. There was an obvious crossover in the 70’s that brought a lot of people to both genres together and made some really good music that could be qualified either way (i.e. Waylon & Hank Jr) and if you think groups like Whiskey Myers, BlackBerry Smoke, Muscadine, Sturgill, & Isbell etc) bring more folks to independent country these days than country artists send towards the more rock and roll side given that southern rock types are more likely than not to be arranged in most streaming playlists with independent country artists. It’s interesting to think about how in this era as much as in the 70’s that these two relatively small musical categories seem to be feeding each other in some ways.
April 24, 2025 @ 4:54 pm
I definitely think it works back and forth, and probably in a proportional amount for both country and Southern rock, though a really big band or a really big album can really help grease those wheels, like The Allman Bros/Marshall Tucker in the 70s, Hank Jr. in the 80s, Travis Tritt in the ’90s, etc.
April 24, 2025 @ 8:16 pm
The lead single was better than I expected it to be but burying Cody Canada’s voice in the “megaphone” filter kind of annoys me. I really dig what they did with the lead guitar on that track sounds like it’s coming right out of the amp with not much computer tinkering.
April 24, 2025 @ 9:18 am
Pardi acts like traditional country style country isn’t having a resurgence. What a weird time to go pop.
April 24, 2025 @ 9:58 am
Bring back Don Gibson.
Not a country singer at all, according to himself, he wanted to be known as a guitarist – but damn if he’s not a hundred times more country than the country singers we’re seeing on the charts today.
April 24, 2025 @ 10:03 am
Funny how Pardi & Troubadour’s albums were top 2 via iTunes album sales & Apple sales.
Then both fail to make the Billboard album Top 25 chart. Doesn’t add up…
Also, we all know the future Billboard Country Album Top 10 chart will comprise of Morgan Wallen (once he releases his 10th album)
The Billboard chart criteria needs to change.
Also, based on iTunes and other streaming stuff, Pardi’s album did well. Not sure how Billboard calculates these things…
Also Pardi barely had a physical album push. No store in my state had a copy… Had to purchase via Pardi’s website while the shelves of Walmart are filled with Ariana Grande’s deluxe album edition
April 24, 2025 @ 10:32 am
iTunes sales and the iTunes charts mean next to nothing. People downloading music is a tiny fraction of the market at this point, though these people do represent more loyal and active listeners. That is why I caution when people get wrapped up in them, or places like Country Central and Country Chord start touting them. It gives you some indication of something, but lacks the overall picture.
I actually think the Billboard Albums charts are a pretty accurate representation of impact at this point. I do think they should weigh physical sales heavier, though they are already weighed heavy. It’s the songs charts where they register pop radio spins that result in the anomaly.
April 24, 2025 @ 10:48 am
Well that stinks.
I mean #27 is horrendous. Especially when California Sunrise every week is at #35
What changed from Mr Sat Night to this? Pardi fans didn’t show up or is it a lack of marketing? Or is it because Pardi’s lead single to radio is not a hit yet (compared to Last Night Lonely which went #1 around the album’s release).
Seems strange. Pardi’s monthly Spotify numbers have been strong and consistent. Usually around 9 million unique listeners. That’s better than Lainey Wilson’s numbers..
April 24, 2025 @ 11:03 am
“What changed from Mr Sat Night to this?”
Well, he went pop with Jay Joyce. That’s what this whole article was about. Other factors might be at play as well.
April 24, 2025 @ 2:55 pm
True but listeners would 1st have to listen to most of the album to decide if it’s too pop for them.
His one-off releases since January have been decent, from Honkytonk Hollywood, Love the Lights Out & She Drives Away got quite a bit of love.
Regardless. This isn’t good for Pardi. I hope Capitol doesn’t drop him soon….
April 24, 2025 @ 10:52 pm
A broader question: Do you think any current artist will break the new release template and demand that the first six months of his/her/their next release can only be purchased physically? Taylor Swift tossed that grenade about a decade ago but pulled back quickly. Call me a romantic but if the right performer threw down that gauntlet it would help re-establish who is truly popular in the moment. Plus give CPR to thousands of malls welcoming the traffic.
April 25, 2025 @ 9:03 am
Most malls are beyond resuscitation at this point. Opening a store with racks of CDs in it isn’t going to bring in enough foot traffic to matter to the few other remaining stores in the mall, or fill the food courts again.
April 25, 2025 @ 12:26 pm
I’ve been expecting the opposite for a while. Basically the only ones buying physical media are fans already, and at least for me, the day I get the physical copy is the day I stop streaming it. Artists could very well be losing out on significant streams and playlist rankings by releasing the physical stuff too early.
April 24, 2025 @ 10:05 am
Putting Hollywood in the title was a bad move.
April 24, 2025 @ 10:09 am
Did “California Sunrise” out perform Honkytonk Hollywood this week per Billboard?
I know in the past California Sunrise is steady within the Top 30 on the Billboard Country album chart. There’s a paywall now so i can’t see
April 24, 2025 @ 10:40 am
Hold on let me check …
“California Sunrise” was at #41, and received 106 million streams on the week, so more than the new album.
April 24, 2025 @ 10:59 am
For the 10th anniversary next year, Pardi should release a deluxe edition with unreleased songs from that era.
So many songs on that album could still be a radio hit.
April 24, 2025 @ 10:21 am
Zach Top is great but he comes across as “Dress Up Neotraditionalist”
Similar to Ella Langley’s You Look like you Love me.
Simply a phase or an era. And we’ll be served something different during the next album
April 25, 2025 @ 1:28 pm
I liked the melodic guitar hook in Friday Night Heartbreaker better when it was in its original form in Danger by Mike and the Moonpies.
I swear, these Music Row jackoffs just listen to Texas country music and change a few notes, 1-2 chords, 1-2 BPMs, and distill it all through drum machines and distorted crunch.
April 24, 2025 @ 11:29 am
Pardi became a member of the Opry in 2023:
“I moved to Nashville chasing a dream at 22 years old, and now I’m here. I love you guys, and I love country music. Thank you, everybody.”
So, he loved country music and chased the country music dream since 22, but now that he’s about to turn 40, he doesn’t know what it is anymore?
April 24, 2025 @ 11:33 am
“I moved to Nashville chasing the money at 22 years old, and now I’m here.”
April 25, 2025 @ 9:58 am
Alan Jackson is probably kicking himself for being a part of Pardi’s invite
April 24, 2025 @ 11:36 am
I’ve always felt that artists like Jon Pardi, Easton Corbin, Chris Young, etc shoot themselves in the foot playing the middle. These are artist who gained a respectable mainstream following due to being neotraditionalists, then they sell out and lose the neotraditional crowd, while never really fitting in with the poppy crowd.
It’s baffling to me. While it’s against every fiber in my being to sell out, I at least understand why new artists do it to be relevant. By why on earth as a pretty country established artist would you turn your back on that sound and cater to the times? I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen it work out for an artist past a hit song or two.
April 24, 2025 @ 12:26 pm
They often aren’t artists in the sense of having a clear vision for themselves but rather they are a product for the industry to manipulate in hopes of appeasing current trends. This is the opposite of how great producers like Rick Rubin treated artists. In Nashville there isn’t a recognition of the uniqueness of a certain artist and painstakingly crafting albums that match that but rather the forcing of a square peg in a round hole. You can look back at the 90’s and point to so many lasting albums and artists. Today everything in the Country mainstream is “here today and gone tomorrow” and it sounds cheesy and dated much like the identity crisis and genre-stealing that CCM (Christian Contemporary Music – and also based in Nasvhille) has done. This is why the current genre-mixing sounds stupid and contrived. It’s not a situation of having a diamond in the rough band with a unique vision where producers are trying to figure out how to develop this unique product but instead it’s the recognition of certain trends and the desire to revive older trends and trying to force that onto certain artists and hope that it works.
(Youtube “Carmen Christian Music” and watch some of that crap from the 90’s)
Country music can’t be everything and also it’s own thing at the same time. It reminds me of Christian music in the 90’s and 2000’s that was desperately trying to be relevant alongside other secular genres but was a bad copy. Country music can’t be early 2000’s rock, and modern rap, Elton John, George Strait, Lynryd Skynrd all at once along with the frontman being the bloated botox face of Jon Pardi or the Ozempic alabaster California Raisin face of Jelly Roll Roll now. It won’t work long term and won’t be remembered.
Sturgill Simpson and Kacy Musgraves had a unique sound and vision that worked. That’s why their initial albums still hold up today.
April 24, 2025 @ 12:53 pm
Don’t forget Dustin Lynch in that mix.
April 25, 2025 @ 10:50 am
Dustin Lynch is so strange. The 5 or 6 pure country songs he’s released in his career have been fantastic. Some of his pop leaning material is tolerable, but the bad stuff is so bad.
April 24, 2025 @ 9:59 pm
I would argue that Chris Young sold out much, much more than either Corbin or Pardi. One of the more disappointing artists in country music history. From country songs that were also great songs to throwaway pop rock. Such a waste of that voice.
April 25, 2025 @ 7:43 am
Young’s selling out had slid under the radar.
His latest stuff is beyond generic and desperate.
April 24, 2025 @ 12:00 pm
The album has some horrible songs but I think a number of good ones as well.
April 24, 2025 @ 12:47 pm
It’s been a long time since I liked anything done by Jay Joyce.
April 24, 2025 @ 1:10 pm
Joyce is a piranha.
April 24, 2025 @ 3:19 pm
Jon Pardi has always been trash and I never understood how he got positive reviews on here. His albums have been full of pop country songs written by all the nashville pop country writers like rhett adkins, luke laird, and barry dean.
April 30, 2025 @ 5:59 pm
THANK YOU! I don’t know how scm ever thought of him as traditional country. He sounds exactly like Florida Georgia line with a few country instruments. He’s dog shit, always has been. WHEREYOUATWHEREYOUATWHEREYOUAT
April 24, 2025 @ 3:43 pm
This album isn’t a complete disaster there’s several that are really good but the album in general is very overproduced way too shiny and polished its definitely had alot of tinkering from record label. In Jon Pardi”s defense he has never been the second coming of George Strait and he has never claimed to be. His Albums have always had a Rock and Pop sound just not nearly as bad as this one does. What bothers me more is his comments about not knowing what country music is anymore and claiming Beyonce country is awesome. I refuse to believe that is his actual thoughts and feelings not not something his record label told him to say to justify this albums production style. Pardi needs to get out of Tennessee and move down to Texas because its Nashville that pushing the shitty pop country on everyone. Pardi is at his best when he making Neo Traditional country with a rock edge .and stop chasing radio
April 24, 2025 @ 3:57 pm
Honestly, I bet the next Jon Pardi album will be a traditional country album. Hopefully the damage isn’t already done with this latest mess of an album.
April 24, 2025 @ 4:14 pm
I realize that this is just my opinion, but I’ve never understood how people got into this guy. I’ve heard better vocals coming out of a cat’s ass.
April 27, 2025 @ 7:25 pm
Why were you listening to a cat’s ass? 🤔😂
April 24, 2025 @ 4:15 pm
One hope Pardi follows the career trajectory of artists like Dierks Bentley and Randy Houser. Both started country, then listened to their label and significantly changed their sound. When their “new sound” album flopped, they went back to what they did best and put out better music. In Randy’s case, even left his label.
April 27, 2025 @ 9:49 am
I hate to break it to you but Dierks new single is pure trash.
April 25, 2025 @ 4:30 am
While ive passively liked some of his stuff, ive never been a huge fan or listener. But i can understand why hes chasing the neon now. Hes probably come to a point of reckoning in his career to decide whether to just stay put and slowly fade out of sight or make changes and hope to rise on up on this so called new trend. Money could be an issue. The question will come if this album falters, will he double down or attempt to just go on like this album never happened.
April 25, 2025 @ 11:56 am
I don’t listen to Pardi, but thought I’d give this one a spin because of this review. Man “She Gets to Drinking” is surprisingly not good considering Hillary Lindsey is a writer on it. Kept waiting for T-Pain to come in on the first verse of ‘Gambling Man’, but then they added a fiddle. ‘Hey California’ sounds like a country boy singing Fleetwood Mac Sob Rock karaoke. ‘Rush’ is trying hard to be a rock song. ‘Last Call Thing’ – had to Google how old Pardi is and at almost 40 with a kid (or two?) we are slowly entering into Luke Bryan singing about girls shakin’ it territory. ‘Honkeytonk Hollywood’… oh good, I was hoping to hear another song where talks about California and rhymes baby with crazy. ‘Love the Lights Out’ …is this yet another song with the same ‘recipe’ he keeps using about drinkin’ and lovin’ with a body parts checklist? (The new Jake Worthington song does this SO much better btw.) Co-writer Pryor Baird could easily out-sing Pardi on ‘Nice Place to Visit’. I would also much rather hear Jackson Dean sing ‘Hard Knocks’. Strong 80’s effects on ‘Don’t You Wanna Know’. I just never have liked this guy’s voice. I do respect his refrain from naming an album / tour ‘Pardi Time’ or ‘Let’s Pardi’ or ‘Pardi On’…unlike Russell Dickerson naming his tour Russellmania. My beef with current ‘country’ is always the same beef. I don’t like juvenile lyrics and labeling something as country when it just isn’t. I also feel so bad for those who pitched this guy good country music songs only to be passed up for this lineup. Gonna have to do a class of ’89 palate cleanse after this. Also bracing myself for when Morgan Wallen ruins ‘Miami, My Amy’. With artists like Zach Top, I had high hopes for actual country music in 2025. There are those of us who still very much DO know what country music is. We aren’t confused about it whatsoever.
April 26, 2025 @ 7:29 pm
That Zach Top album is old, if he’s saving anything he his team needs to write faster, people want new music every month that act like it’s hard to write a song!