JON PARDI

I had a drummer I really wanted to move to Nashville with me, and he's like, 'Naw, I can't go, man.' He never could pull the trigger. It's a big move. You just gotta be diehard - you gotta give it your all, you know.

If you can take a piece of life and put it in a song, it's going to be a good song - especially if it's from the heart.

I grew up in rural Dixon, CA, and I've been hunting with my father ever since I was a young boy. He taught me how to hunt and shoot, firearm safety, and have respect for the outdoors.

We're boot-friendly here.

I'm mixing country with kind of a modern twist to it.

I love performing, and if I didn't love it, I wouldn't be doing it.

I'm helping country sound a little more country.

My music is my No. 1, and I've got people who believe in me and keep me going. I'm thankful.

My grandmother loved country music, and she's the one who really got me into country music. She had George Strait tapes, a bunch of them. I remember listening to tapes, taking them out, the covers and the back.

You've got these guys that have this fresh, street, hip-hop country that sells a zillion. Keep doing that. I'll keep doing my stuff. We'll see how it goes.

Having two back-to-back No. 1's is unbelievable.

I'm moving forward and getting new fans at every show.

I just have fun on stage. There's nothing premolded out there. I try to always do something different.

I've really been studying lyrics, printing out lyrics to songs I love and reading them like a letter.

I started playing guitar by the time I was 9.

I played the bars in northern California since I was 18. We played at least three hours, and there's no which-way about it: That definitely helped.

It's been so great to have an album people believe in.

I love traditional country music, and I feel like there's a need for it and a want for it. But I enjoy everybody in country music.

I always want to have the traditional country soul while meeting the new standards of country music.

I'd like to start a tradition of getting No. 1s - how 'bout that?

As a songwriter, you always look for guys that you can write good with. Show up, have an idea, knock it out of the park.

I have a great band of great guys. We're a lot of fun.

A lot of my fans, and a lot of country music fans, they still wear boots.

People out west love country music.

'Head Over Boots' is a shuffle, but it's more of a Motown laid-back shuffle than, say, a Dwight Yoakam shuffle.