Jon Pardi's Write You a Song

It’s refreshing to see a young country artist write his own songs and wear a Stetson straw cowboy hat. With modern country singers opting for trucker hats and V-necks, sometimes a tight pair of Wranglers and a pearl snap shirt can feel just right. A throwback to the ’90s twang of Garth and George but with a touch of a modern outlaw sound – Eric Church on his best behavior - Jon Pardi isn’t about to waste his time with his debut album, Write You A Song.

“What I Can’t Put Down” was the right choice to open the album. The immediate guitar riffs prep you for a solid debut effort. Sure there are the obligatory cliché songs of beer, girls, and trucks and the sappy lost love — “Up All Night” and “That Man” — but they are sandwiched between genuine songs of substance.

“Missin' You Crazy” is a fast romp complete with fiddle solo and a sing-along chorus that was manufactured to be part of a soundtrack for fun times. “Happens All the Time” is a song that should play as you sway with a lover under the light of the moon or in a really sad honky-tonk with a glass of whiskey in your hand. It can easily pass for a Brooks and Dunn song, and that’s a good thing.

Themes of youth, good times, and past love are recurrent without being monotonous, a good part due to Pardi’s role as a front man that knows his audience. Pardi, a native of small town Northern California, knows where he came from, but is now as Nashville as they come. He’s got an opening spot locked for Dierks Bentley’s upcoming tour and a spot at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival. Get ready to Pardi y’all.

• Album: Write You A Song
• Artist: Jon Pardi
• Label: Capitol Nashville
• Songs: (1) "What I Can't Put Down" (2) "Up All Night" (3) "Write You a Song" (4) "That Man" (5) "Missin' You Crazy" (6) "Happens All the Time" (7) "Trash a Hotel Room" (8) "Chasin' Them Better Days" (9) "Love You from Here" (10) "Empty Beer Cans" (11) "When I've Been Drinkin'"