Jordan Davis

When Jordan Davis emerged onto the scene in 2018 with his pop-leaning, dive-bar-hitting, whiskey-chasing trio of singles, ‘Singles You Up’, ‘Take It From Me’ and ‘Slow Dance in a Parking Lot’, few would have predicted his most iconic hit would ultimately be a stripped-back, traditional country ballad celebrating faith and family.

But ‘Buy Dirt’, the 2021 Luke Bryan-assisted phenomenon, completely redirected Davis’ trajectory. The intricate, wistful ode to the things that matter in life went on to win Jordan Davis his first CMA Award in 2022 for Song of the Year, and its success undoubtedly coloured the Louisiana native’s subsequent 2023 album, Bluebird Days.

One of the stand-out tracks from Bluebird Days, ‘Next Thing You Know’, is cut from the same philosophical cloth as ‘Buy Dirt’, but finds Davis flexing his storytelling muscles as he documents the blink-of-an-eye pace at which life changes.

It’s littered with beautifully observed snapshots, none more so than the moment Davis becomes a father (“Cause next thing you know / You're wearin' scrubs and a funny white hat / And the doctor's sayin', "How you doin' there, dad?" / And nobody's ever called you that / And you take the drive home slow”).

Although he’s shifted his focus, from time to time, Jordan Davis still embraces the genre-fusing style that inspired his break-out singles back in 2018, captured by the likes of ‘Almost Maybes’, ‘Lose You’, ‘Need to Not’ and ‘Tucson Too Late’.

Thanks in no small part to the magnitude of ‘Buy Dirt’, Jordan Davis is now one of the most esteemed names in the genre, and he currently stands on the precipice of country music stardom.

However, judging by the lyrics to ‘Buy Dirt’, glistening accolades and illustrious achievements aren’t really the priority for the porch-sittin’, Church-going family-man version of Jordan Davis we know and love today.