Jon Pardi is back with his new album, Honkytonk Hollywood, and he joins Katie Neal this week on the Superstar Power Hour to talk all about it.
LISTEN NOW: Jon Pardi on the 'Superstar Power Hour'
Packed with 17 new songs and produced by Jay Joyce, Pardi returns with his signature blend of soaring guitars and tear-inducing tenderness on Honkytonk Hollywood, an album named for the glitzy glow up that Music City has seen over several years.
"This is not the Hollywood you think about, this is boots and rhinestones and glitz and glamour and every artist has got a bar downtown, and TV and film and the music business, and like 5 star hotels," explains Pardi. "I mean how many fancy restaurants does Nashville have now? We are spoiled. This is the new booming town and it's all a bunch of glamorous rednecks, Honkytonk Hollywood."
The driving force behind the record, Jon co-wrote half the album and was the one who reached out to Joyce to produce, thanks to a sign from Tom Petty. "Tom Petty helped out because at the time I was really like, 'what do I do with the next record?'"
"Tom Petty, they just released last year, the 'Wildflowers' documentary and it was like hidden footage, but it was old footage from when they did the record with Rick Rubin. He was talking about how he likes to switch up producers every 3 or 4 records because it made him a better songwriter, better artist, and a better musician. I was like, 'Tom Petty's doing it!' I think it was a sign from Tom Petty, and I was like, 'I gotta do it, Tom.' Call Jay later that week and he had open the same time that I had opened, and it was like meant to be."
Pardi brings the party per usual on Honkytonk Hollywood, but also hits the heartstrings with a few family songs, "He Went To Work," and "She Drives Away."
"I went on TikTok and I'm like, man, the amount of videos that 'She Drives Away' has been used. I mean like fresh newborn girls, and like it's just kind of sets that mood, and it's really fun to watch that," gushes Pardi. "Just to see everybody being human beings and relating to music. I feel like this is a really emotional and soulful record, it's fun but it's also, sexy and family. I mean, it's got a little bit of everything."
To hear much more from Jon Pardi including tour plans and beyond, check out the full Superstar Power Hour interview above.