Everybody Dance Now: Jon Pardi Reveals the Texas Tradition that Inspired "Head over Boots"

Capitol Records NashvilleJon Pardi may’ve grown up in California, but his latest hit, “Head over Boots,” actually has its roots in the Lone Star State. He was visiting his dad, who lives near San Antonio, when the inspiration struck.

“Texas has a bunch of dance halls,” Jon recalls, “so we were out there kinda hanging out, having some beers, watching the band, listening to country music. And they were playing like western swing and old Merle Haggard songs and stuff. There was old couples and young couples dancing, and I was like, ‘Man, it’d be really cool just to get like a cool song that once you hear it, everybody wants to dance to it.'”

Even after sleeping on it, Jon couldn’t shake the idea.

“I woke up the next morning after the dance hall and had a cup of coffee and I just started singing, and like strumming and kinda just writing melodies and stuff. And I recorded the melody to ‘Head over Boots’ and the first three lines… And that’s kinda what we started with.”  

“Head over Boots” is currently edging its way into country’s top five. It’s the lead single from Jon’s sophomore album, California Sunrise, which recently debuted at number one on Billboard’s country albums chart.

Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.