Jon Pardi admits his brand of country music leans traditional, but even for him, “Head Over Boots” is pretty dang country. The Californian's latest song has done as much for his fans as it has him.

Fairly soon after Pardi released the first single from his California Sunrise album, he started to hear stories. Some, he expected: fans were using the swinging love song as their wedding song, or a song to walk up the aisle to for the first time as a married couple.

“I’ve had a couple people say that that song saved their marriage," Pardi says, "because they had that one night where it just made everything feel right.”

Sometimes you just know you have a hit song when you write it. That wasn't the case for Pardi and his co-writer Luke Laird. They made a demo and started playing it for some female friends. That group really responded, and then his record label picked it as a first single, which surprised him.

"I was like, 'Alright, it's pretty country,'" Pardi recalls, "'but I loved that you picked that for the first single, so let's go for it.'"

Keeping it country has felt like vindication for Pardi. No one at his record label tried to change him, but in the modern era of country music, there's always pressure to bend and lean into a more progressive sound.

"Capitol has been great," he assures. "I was talking to CEO Mike Dungan last night (saying), 'Thank you for letting me be myself. And not telling me to do something that I was not comfortable with.'"

"I'm pretty stubborn anyway ... I lean traditional, but 'Head Over Boots,' it's pretty country," he adds, laughing.

Should he take the song to the top of the country airplay charts, Pardi says he doesn't expect he'll do anything crazy. He may treat himself by doing a little extra work on his house, but there will be no tattoo or daredevil act tradition.

“I’d like to start a tradition of getting No. 1s — how ‘bout that?”

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