Jon Pardi’s #1 for “Head Over Boots” Proves There’s a Place for Country on Country Radio
Traditional-leaning country artist Jon Pardi’s single “Head Over Boots” has been the “little country song that could” in 2016, and despite strong competition from many other contemporary artists, it can now claim at least a stake in being considered 2016’s country song of the summer.
Released way back on September 14th, 2015, “Head Over Boots” has traced a slow but steady build until this week it was officially named the #1 song on country radio. Yet beyond some other singles that have recently been awarded this distinction, the numbers behind “Head Over Boots” speak to a true groundswell of appeal and interest in the song as opposed to reaching #1 just because it’s Jon Pardi’s turn in line.
Take a look at some of the numbers behind “Head Over Boots” beyond radio:
- #1 Most Shazamed country song in 2016 so far.
- Certified gold, with over 550,000 downloads.
- It has been streamed over 100 million times combined (audio + video).
- The live video has been viewed over 7.6 million times (Released 4/16/2016).
- The lyric video has been viewed over 8.7 million times (Released 10/9/2015).
“Head Over Boots” joins Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind” (written by Lori McKenna) as surprising #1 singles for 2016, speaking to the new support building at radio for songs of both substance, and that include more traditional instrumentation like steel guitar and fiddle. Jon Pardi co-wrote “Head Over Boots” with Luke Laird, and also co-produced the song like he did the entirety of his recent album, California Sunrise.
Jon Pardi continues to be one of the promising young traditional country voices that happens to be on a major label, and could be the spearhead to fueling a traditional country resurgence in the mainstream.
The video for “Head Over Boots,” which shows Jon Pardi dressed in traditional country duds, was shot at the Twin Sisters Dance Hall in Blanco, TX. Built in the 1870’s, it is one of the oldest surviving Texas dance halls that remains standing. The hall is currently looking for donations to help fix the venue’s 90-year-old roof.
The success of “Head Over Boots” proves there is a place for more traditional country songs and artists in today’s radio climate. They just have to be given a chance.
Taylor
August 15, 2016 @ 6:41 pm
I really like this song, happy to see it doing well. Jon seems to keep a good balance of radio sound and real country, happy for him!
albert
August 15, 2016 @ 6:48 pm
‘The success of “Head Over Boots” proves there is a place for more traditional country songs and artists in today’s radio climate. They just have to be given a chance’.
Absolutely , Trigger . I am not a fan of this particular song cuz I think the lyrics are trite and amateurish . BUT I’ll take THAT trade-off against most of country current crop of mainstream cacophony any day of the week . The vibe , the arrangement and the groove all shout ” Country Music ” far louder than 99% of contemporary radio does . I don’t think we should be surprised that people like and respond so favorably to this style . Its time tested and it stands apart from every other mainstream genre…so its ‘ fresh ‘ ….again . George Strait and any number of ‘ vets ‘ have recorded a bushel of better tunes on their most recent outings but they’ve been all but ignored by radio . I think it just takes a bit more commitment and push on the part of record labels cuz its obvious people still love the REAL stuff .
BwareDWare94
August 15, 2016 @ 7:50 pm
He has to capitalize on this by releasing “Cowboy Hat” as his next single.
jmarsh123
August 16, 2016 @ 5:05 am
Unfortunately based off how much I’ve been hearing it on XM, it appears “Dirt On My Boots” is being forced by the label which should kill any momentum. I’ve love to hear “She Ain’t In It” as a single in addition to “Cowboy Hat”
BwareDWare94
August 16, 2016 @ 6:50 am
I want to trust Jon Pardi completely, but he seems to actually like that song…It’s still better than 85% of what’s on the radio but it’s by and far the worst song on California Sunrise. If it does well at radio I’m scared that we will lose him.
The question is can his career survive if it flops. If I can become convinced that he’ll survive a failed single, I want “Dirt On My Boots” to flop badly.
Nadia Lockheart
August 16, 2016 @ 10:28 am
To be fair, slightly over half of “California Sunrise” panders to bro-country lyricism and that is what ultimately weakens this album significantly.
“Dirt On My Boots” is one of the most obvious offenders. But then you also have “Cowboy Hat” (essentially his version of “T-Shirt”), “Heartache On The Dance Floor”, “All Time High”, “Night Shift”, “Lucky Tonight” and “Can’t Turn You Down” also doubling down on that banality. And I feel most of those cuts aren’t going to help differentiate him from his male chart rivals aside from having a fiddle in them.
“Head Over Boots” is lyrically shallow too, but part of the reason why it’s a hit worth celebrating is because it actually comes across as charming in a Josh Turner sort of way. It actually comes across as more of an old-fashioned love song as opposed to a lust song masquerading as “love song”. The former has been a rarity finding on mainstream radio in recent years.
The tracks I cited above don’t do that, though. They pander highly to the Peach Pickers brand of lyricism and rhythmic cadences in spite of mostly featuring country instrumentation. It’s still better than, say, Easton Corbin’s shameless sellout act. But as a whole, I actually prefer both his full-length debut and B-sides EP over this album.
Frank the Tank
August 17, 2016 @ 6:26 am
I felt the same about this album. While the instrumentation/production is solid throughout, the lyrics held back many of the songs. For me, I rated it a 5/10 since exactly half of the songs are good to very good while the other half range from ok to bad.
Sandra
May 1, 2017 @ 3:58 pm
How dare you say you want Jon Pardi ‘s song Dirty on my boots to flop – BwareDWare94. I am a 100% true Jon Pardi fan and if I hear someone else say his songs are going to flop I will give you a swift kick where the sun don’t shine. And you know where I am talking about.
the pistolero
May 1, 2017 @ 4:19 pm
Well, “Dirt On My Boots” does kinda suck. Maybe if it flops they’ll release better songs.
Jared S
August 16, 2016 @ 9:04 am
According to Wikipedia, Dirt On My Boots is the next single. On my local country stations, I’ve been hearing Out Of Style getting some airtime. I don’t really like Out Of Style – to me it sounds like what Florida Georgia Line would play if they wanted to do something “traditional.” Dirt On My Boots sounds like a traditional-sounding singer trying to imitate Luke Bryan. I’m not sure which is worse.
I really can’t decide if I like Jon Pardi or not.
Frank the Tank
August 17, 2016 @ 6:34 am
I kind of feel the same way. I like his voice and some of the songs on this album, but some of the lyrics are cringe-worthy. Maybe this will improve as he matures and gains more experience, but I guess time will tell. I want to like him and root for him, but I still have some reservations at this point.
Lone Wolf
August 15, 2016 @ 8:14 pm
“Head Over Boots”, while not a lyrical masterpiece (in my humble opinion) has a real old-school kind of sound and production to it. Like something would hear in those those Tim Life commercials for those late 60’s/early 70’s collections of songs by Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, etc. Probably the only song on today’s country radio that I haven’t gotten tired of hearing. Don’t know much else from Jon Pardi, but I’m only too happy to hear more. A nice lead-off single. Thanks for giving JP some love. Trigger!!!
Mo Crawford
August 15, 2016 @ 9:50 pm
Sounds like an average 90s song
Cameron
August 15, 2016 @ 11:46 pm
Good news! Maybe in a few years country radio will actually sound country again
Clark Brenner
August 16, 2016 @ 12:08 am
I believe it’s starting sooner than you think. Cody Jinks is selling in the top 3 on iTunes along with Chris Stapleton and Justin Moore. Luke Bryan’s new single, “Move” is failing. It’s at number 27 and honestly I think it’s failing to make a huge impression. Also we see that acts such as The Band Perry and even FGL are having trouble selling well on iTunes. FGL can’t even sell well with their album tracks so I wonder how they’ll manage to sell well with the album. Also Randy Houser has seen a huge lack of sales and failed very badly with “Song Number 7” and is looking to fail again with “Chasing Down a Good Time”. My point is that I think we will soon be seeing some of the major label acts who are pop country being dropped soon. And artists such as Cody Jinks outselling some of the pop country major acts could soon become major label artists. I’m sure we will see huge sales this week for Dolly Parton and Kiefer Sutherland. Next week who knows? FGL could fail miserably or they could sell many albums, without making that big of an impact like Steven Tyler with “We’re All Somebody From Somewhere”.
Daniel
August 16, 2016 @ 2:11 am
His next single is “Dirt On My Boots” forcibly picked by his label unfortunately.
Brett
August 16, 2016 @ 5:11 am
The new Jake Owen album is a schizophrenic mess, but I’d love to see “LAX” become a single. Of course, the combo of prominent steel guitar and an overt reference to marijuana means it probably won’t, and we’ll instead get one of the album’s several Hunt/Rhett knockoffs.
BwareDWare94
August 16, 2016 @ 8:18 am
Hunt/Rhett knockoffs? American Love may not be very country but at least the songs are well done. I wish he’d release a tradiation al country album but don’t expect to. For the record, I too hope “LAX” becomes a single. Not only is it a great song, but kudos to Jake Owen for taking the high roaf as opposed to recording some childish kissoff song.
Randy
August 16, 2016 @ 9:09 am
Lol every song on that album besides “LAX” is terrible. Give your head a shake pal.
justin casey
August 16, 2016 @ 1:20 pm
i wouldn’t necessarily say american love is a bad album but it’s kind of all over the place and lax is definitely a highlight which in a perfect world would be the second single when american country love song peaks in a few weeks because it’s a great song and an example of someone who recorded an album after a divorce and instead of trashing his ex with other peoples songs (blake shelton) took the high road and made the most positive album possible
Nadia Lockheart
August 16, 2016 @ 10:10 am
It’s too bad “Dirt On My Boots” has been designated the next single. That track epitomizes what, sadly, compromises way too much of “California Sunrise” in lyrically doubling down on bro-country tropes. It’s not going to do Pardi any favors in further standing out from the male pack! =(
Still, it is impressive that one of the most neotraditional-leaning tracks that also avoids the bro-country themes is both the track that anchored this album’s release as well as the first to reach #1 on the charts. “Head Over Boots” truly is an enjoyable ditty for what it’s worth.
Dave
August 16, 2016 @ 11:42 am
Happy for him but this comes a week after Chris Lane hit #1. The tide is turning but it will take some time. William Michael Morgan is having a slow but steady climb up the chart. Hope this translates into album sales. I’ll definitely buy his CD when it comes out.
Nadia Lockheart
August 16, 2016 @ 2:28 pm
We’re still in a significantly better place now than we were as far back as 2011.
In fact, I’d say “Record Year” was the single best song to reach #1 on the airplay chart since Zac Brown Band’s “Colder Weather” in April 2011. Obviously, we’ve had some solid songs in-between then and now like Dierks Bentley’s “I Hold On”, another Zac Brown Band hit “Sweet Annie”, the Eli Young Band’s “Even When It Breaks Your Heart”, and a small handful more. But we’ve having a higher rate of quality #1 hits this year compared to any year between 2012 and 2016 on average, in my opinion, despite terrible songs still finding their way to the top.
I mean, just glancing through the list of #1 hits for 2015, “Talladega” is the only one that still thoroughly moves me and I identify as well above average. Every single other song on that list is not nearly as impactful. You’ve got very likeable songs like “Shotgun Rider”, “Young & Crazy” (it might just be me, but I find the degree of self-awareness of that song very refreshing) and “A Guy Walks Into A Bar” (Farr’s only listenable radio single to date). But then you have a frustrating streak of chart-toppers that present some good ideas but are ultimately compromised by cliches and mixed messages like “Wild Child”, “Homegrown” and “Raise ‘Em Up”. And for the most part, it only got worse from there.
This year, we started out rough for sure, but we’ve had a higher volume of winners since the early spring. “Record Year” is outstanding, “Head Over Boots” is very enjoyable as is “Humble And Kind”, “Church Bells” is well-written (though overproduced), “Confession” has only continued to grow on me and, though “Think Of You” was way too overproduced, the sentiment of that song is solid. And, despite long chart runs making it highly unlikely either song will reach #1, it’s heartening to see one of Justin Moore’s best songs to date and William Michael Morgan’s debut effort holding strong too.
We still have a huge amount of work to do for sure, but I have to say I’m feeling more optimistic now than I was much the rest of this decade.
SteveG
August 16, 2016 @ 12:21 pm
The fact that it’s the #1 Most Shazamed country song in 2016 is quite telling. Sure, it’s out there a lot, but people are actively trying to figure out what it is and who it is because they like the sound. That’s rather different than buying something just because it’s by a big name that Nashville and radio constantly force feeds ad nauseum.
jessie with the long hair
August 16, 2016 @ 4:06 pm
The chorus melody actually sounds like 70’s pop. I really don’t get this guy. We’ve sunk so low that this is the best country music out there?
Trigger
August 16, 2016 @ 4:50 pm
I’m not sure who is saying this is “the best country music out there” but I think when you compare it with the other country #1’s over the past five years, it’s definitely improvement.
Bassman Matt
August 16, 2016 @ 5:07 pm
It’s the execution of the song that makes me like it. Lyrically a bit vapid, a little corny, but to my ears love songs are either lyrically pivotal or corny. Not a ton of wiggle room in the middle. I dig it, and despite its poppy chorus melody I was surprised to hear it on terrestrial radio.
Andrew
August 17, 2016 @ 5:54 am
The song is pretty good by my low standard for a good country song in recent years. Jon Pardi’s voice is pretty weak though, in my opinion, but at least standable.
thebugman10
August 17, 2016 @ 5:45 pm
I’m not a huge fan of his voice, and this song is just “meh”.
Amanda
August 18, 2016 @ 5:43 pm
This is a huge victory for country music. Jon Pardi is fantastic. Now he just needs to release Cowboy Hat and She Ain’t In It as singles.