Jordan Davis has joined Country Faith Radio with Hillary Scott on Apple Music Country to talk about his new EP – Buy Dirt – and discuss family, music, collaborations and how faith has shaped his life. Listen to the episode here.
Jordan Davis Discusses His New EP ‘Buy Dirt’ and Falling Back in Love With Songwriting at the Beginning of Quarantine
I have a new project coming out, kind of going back to what you were talking about with quarantine. When it first started, I had to re-look at my priorities, and had to answer some tough questions as far as like, “Is this music?” And the tour and stuff, “Is this coming in front of you being a husband, and now you being a dad?” And I didn’t like the answers to them. And so, I took a couple months just to enjoy being at home, stop thinking about Jordan Davis, the guy that sings songs. And I got to fall back in love with songwriting, with songs that I hadn’t listened to in a long time. And this new project is called ‘Buy Dirt,’ and it’s what I came to the realization of at the beginning of this quarantine.
Jordan Davis on the Moments He Would’ve Missed with His Daughter If He Had Been on the Road Last Year
For me, it’s just being able to see the moments I would’ve missed. [My daughter’s] first steps, I was there for it. Even when she started crawling, I was there for it. When she first started eating solid foods, I was there at the table with her. And that was when I stopped and I looked at my calendar and I was like, “I would have been in Arizona tonight. I would not have been here.” But the stacking of things that I got to see were special. But as a dad… and this is my thing that I tell new dads, a mom and a kid is just a special thing. It is something that is the most beautiful thing to watch. But for the first six months, I’m just like, “Well, do you want me to watch that? Is there anything I can do here? This kid wants nothing to do with me.”… So the big moment for me was the day I came home and she just full sprinted to the door, smiled, took up her whole face and she just ran into my kneecap. And I was just like, “That was the coolest thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life.”
Jordan Davis on Collaborating with Julia Michaels on “Cool Anymore”
I had this idea of doing a collab with Julia [Michaels.] I wrote with Julia probably three, four years ago, and was just blown away. And this was before even Julia the artist. She was just writing a lot of hits. Awesome girl, great person, great singer. And I was like, “I really want to do a collab with her.” So I started “Cool Anymore.” And I even said, halfway in the writing room, I was like, “Yo, I got to sing this with Julia.” So we finished the song. I reached out to them. I had this song, “Would love for you to be a part of it, change anything you want on it.” But I feel like we got it in a pretty good place. Sent her the song. I saw her at the CMT Awards and she came up and she goes, “Hey, I want to sing on that song.” And I was like, “Oh, great.” We send it over. And this is just how awesome Julia is. She sends back her version. Totally rewrote the second verse. Not one word was the same and it was awesome. It’s what it is today.
Jordan Davis on the Inspiration Behind “Church In A Chevy”
For me, I think growing up in the church… I was talking about just being there a lot. You go to college, or at least I did, and you screw up a bunch and you kind of have to find your own version of church for me. A lot of times it’s by myself, it’s driving, or it’s going out in the woods and hanging out with my brother at his farm, and I feel like a lot of people relate to that. So, what’s crazy is we wrote [Church In A Chevy] before the pandemic hits and then you actually couldn’t go to church. But I got to say that’s probably the most special song I’ve ever been a part of, I think just because it’s 100% honest, and too just the amount of messages I’ve gotten from people of how it hit them or people… One that sticks out is a person that is kind of scarred from the church or kind of pulled away from it, and the song kind of at least made them feel like you can still have those talks with God and a close relationship with him whether you’re in a church or not.
Jordan Davis Reveals His Dad Struggled with Faith Early On in His Life
My dad’s relationship with Christ was wavering early. But, I feel like when we got early teens, he found it and made it strong. And I think that was huge for me and [my brother] Jacob to kind of see him stray a little bit and find it. But from day one, my mom was the rock. She was the faith rock in the house. And I’m extremely grateful, and still to this day.
Hillary Scott Shares That Jordan Davis’ Uncle Spent the Holidays with Her Family
Hillary: So I was talking to my mom and my baby sister Riley, before we started talking and she just texted me this. A couple minutes ago she said, “Jordan’s Uncle Stan Paul goes way back with me.” She said, “You were young when we would have new to Music City folks over for the holidays.”
Jordan: No way!
Hillary: So I feel like your uncle, at some point spent Thanksgiving, or Easter, or something with us at our house, because my mom always, she’s known, like, if you can’t get home for the holidays, you’re coming to our house. Like, you always have a place to call home if you can’t get back to your home. And so somehow they got connected and we’ve shared a meal together.
Jordan: No way. That gives me chill bumps.
Hillary: Isn’t that cool?
Jordan: That is crazy.
Hillary: I know. It’s such a small world. Such a small world.
Jordan: Because I remember early on, it was like tough for Uncle Stan… I mean, he was a struggling songwriter, and it was tough for him to get back 11 hours to Shreveport where we were all at. And I knew it sat heavy with him a lot, just because I mean, he just missed us, but God, that is crazy.
