The drive to be a country music star came early for Jon Pardi, whose fifth studio album, “Honkytonk Hollywood,” was released on April 11.
“When I went to preschool, I said my name was Randy Travis. And that is a true statement,” Pardi told The Epoch Times in a recent interview. “I was also Merle Haggard, George Strait. I was a big country music fan.”
Credit goes to Pardi’s grandmother for the youthful discovery of the music that would become his life story. She “loved country music and was just listening to it all the time,” he recalled. “And I just listened to it all the time. And then started singing it and started picking up on it. And it just stuck with me.”
The path that took Pardi from a cowboy hat-wearing school kid in Dixon, California, to a Nashville superstar racking up No. 1 hits—“Your Heart or Mine,” “Last Night Lonely,” “Heartache Medication,” “Dirt on My Boots,” “Head Over Boots”—became the needed grist for his down-to-earth lyrics.
“Life inspires you, things that you live,” said Pardi, 39.
“My job as an artist is to sing about experience—good, bad, sad, leaving, partying, drinking, kids, going to work, getting up, being tough. On this record especially, there’s a lot more topics like that than on my other albums. So this is me. Every album is a chapter closed on that life that I’m living right now.”
Appropriately then, on “Honkytonk Hollywood,” Pardi reflects on the Nashville scene of 2025. “Everybody’s got a little bit of country in them now and it’s bigger than ever,” he said.
“We got the lights of Broadway, we got the award shows, the glitz and glamour, we got the music industry here. The reach is so much bigger now with streaming. We’re going worldwide—it’s “Honkytonk Hollywood.”
This “worldwide” appreciation of country music took Pardi on his latest tour to Australia, which left him enthusiastic.
“The Australians got an energy to them—it’s AC/DC energy the whole time. My shows are high energy, so they pick up on that. And let me tell you, it was a lot of fun.”
Far from being tired of life on the road, Pardi sounded as excited talking about the new tour as he did recounting more carefree gigs from his early twentysomething days playing at Losers, a popular Nashville bar. These days, there are some niceties that come along with success.
“The entourage is alive and well,” he said with a laugh.
“We got a big crew that sets up everything, and then we got a big band. We don’t try to use too many tracks. We got fiddles, steel, piano, bass, and then three guitar players, including me. And if we get the Christmas band, we got a four-piece horn section.”
Pardi’s personal life has shifted as well. The biggest: He now has people waiting for his return.
Today, in addition to being a hit maker and a tour headliner, he’s a husband and a father. He’s been married to Summer Pardi, a former hairdresser from Northern California, since November 2020.
“It’s definitely tough being apart, being away from the kids,” he said. “FaceTime is a lifesaver.” Thanks to Summer being “a great mom, a great wife,” Pardi said he can stay focused on his career when he hits the road.
“We got a good home that helps too,” said Pardi of the “15 acres” they live on outside Nashville that provide a retreat for his two young daughters, Presley Fawn and Sienna Grace, a place “to run around on” along with the “the cows and goats and all kinds of stuff to keep them outside.”
As the interview wound down, he focused on his family. Most important is the date he had with Presley.
“I promised little baby Presley, she’s 2 years old, that I'd feed the cows,” Pardi said. “So when I get home, we’re going to put out some round bells for the crazy Highland cows and the goats.”
Then there will be more “chores” and “hanging out with the kids” before bedtime.
“She loves to sing,” he said of Presley. “Her favorite is ‘Jesus Loves Me,’ and ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.’ And she’s been really into ‘The Muffin Man.’”
That’s what it all comes down to right now—“living a simple, good life filled with family time,” said Pardi as he headed back to just that.
