Tom Petty’s never going to steer you wrong.
Jon Pardi announced today that his fifth studio album, Honkytonk Hollywood, will be dropping on April 11. The title track to the 17 song album dropped today as the follow-up to the album’s lead single “Friday Night Heartbreak.” And according to Pardi, it’s one of his favorite albums that he’s ever made – and he may have the late, great Tom Petty to thank for that.
Honkytonk Hollywood marks the first time Pardi has teamed up with legendary producer Jay Joyce, who has produced Eric Church’s entire catalog, as well as albums from Lainey Wilson, Ashley McBryde, Miranda Lambert, Brothers Osborne, and many, many more.
And as Jon tells Whiskey Riff, it was Petty who convinced him to take a chance and switch things up in the studio for his new album:
“I made this whole change of going with Jay Joyce, reaching out first to ask if it was even doable and if he wanted to do it, from Tom Petty…
In between these records, they put the Wildflowers documentary out of him working with Rick Rubin, and Tom was like, ‘You know man, I like to switch up producers every three records’ or whatever he said, and it was just kinda like Tom Petty from heaven shouting down, ‘Do it.’
He said it pushes him to grow as an artist and a songwriter and a musician, and it’s just like, ‘Man, that’s Tom Petty telling you that. You should try that. You’ve got nothing to lose, it’s Jay Joyce.'”
The result is an album that pushes Pardi’s sound in a way he hasn’t done before, while still proving why he was one of the first standard bearers for the traditional country renaissance over the past decade.
And the album is also special to Jon because he was able to use his touring band in the studio with him, something that he says ultimately makes them all better musicians and makes for a better final product:
“Jay likes to use the touring band guys because it’s like a camaraderie, and I love all my band, we love each other…
It made us a better band, and we would joke about little things that Jay would tell us…It was just a good thing for all of us, and now when we’re on stage, we feel like we graduated a year of class and we’re ready for the next round.”
Of course with Pardi you know that he’s not going to stray too far from modern Bakersfield sound that’s made him so popular, but pushing the limits to incorporate some of the west coast rock and grunge while still remaining true to his roots led Pardi to call Honkytonk Hollywood one of his favorite albums that he’s ever made:
“I think there’s a little bit of everything. It’s up and down emotions, and fun, and I think the vocals are very present more than all the other records. It’s one of my favorite records I’ve ever made.”
And if you’re a Pardi fan, I think you’ll agree with him.
The full album drops on April 11, but Jon dropped the title track “Honkytonk Hollywood” today to give everybody a sneak peak at what’s in store.
