Honkytonk Hollywood

Honkytonk Hollywood

Album ∙ Country ∙ 2025

Jon Pardi

Life has changed for Jon Pardi since he released Mr. Saturday Night in 2022. The California-born country hitmaker and notorious party boy has since become a father, welcoming his first daughter in 2023 and a second daughter a year later. As he releases this follow-up, Pardi is also on the cusp of turning 40, and the resulting music finds him in a more contemplative place than on past releases. While there’s no shortage of booze or bad ideas across the album’s 17 tracks, Pardi also dips into more serious territory, like exploring parenthood on the tear-jerking ballad “She Drives Away” and pushing the party too far on the down-and-out “Gamblin’ Man”.

“I feel like this album is less party and a lot of soul, but it’s still party and dancing,” he tells Apple Music. “There’s lots of layers to this album, I think. There’s some big songs that are going to feel more personable to the listener than my other albums.” Other highlights on Honkytonk Hollywood include opener “Boots Off”, a cheeky, retro ode to knocking boots, and penultimate track “Who I Don’t Wanna Be”, a gritty, melodic exploration of regret and redemption. Pardi closes the collection with “Kinda Wanna Keep It That Way”, a slinky, soulful celebration of going against the grain. Below, he shares insight into several key tracks.

“Boots Off”
“I didn’t have a bootjack, and regardless, if you got nice boots, they’re not vented, so your feet get hot. If everything gets a little swollen or whatever, it’s a little harder to get the boots off. And then I thought about, well, we were trying to get it on, and I’m over here trying to get my boots off. I can’t get my boots off quick enough. That’s how I came up with that whole hook. And it was funny: I was like, ‘Man, we were just trying to get it on. You’re stuck trying to get your boots off.’ Made for a good song.”

“Gamblin’ Man”
“‘Gamblin’ Man’ is a hard song. It’s about loss, more than just losing a girl. It’s about losing yourself into something that took everything and just making mistakes. And my favourite line in ‘Gamblin’ Man’ [is], ‘Yeah, they keep on bringing them drinks.’ It’s talking about [how when] you [are] gambling, you get the free drinks. It don’t cost you any money, but they sure ain’t free. I love that line, and it’s like you can put that to anything. Yeah, a little bit too much of it, it comes with a cost.”

“She Drives Away”
“We always try to sell the drink and the beer and the good time and dancing, and this is my first dad song and a parent song. There’s so many parents out there and so many newborn babies, and it’s nice to have a little theme song for the girl dads out there. I’m still thinking I might see it at some weddings, some father-daughter dances.”