Jordan Davis Breaks Down His Songs on ‘Backstage Country’  

Jordan Davis tells good stories, as evident in his song lyrics. Whether he’s singing about heartbreak, family, or just living life in the fast lane, the Louisiana native has a way of turning real-life moments into chart-topping hits. This week, he’ll be sitting in the co-host chair, joining Elaina Smith on Backstage Country to share with listeners the stories behind his latest songs.   

Smith confirmed with Davis that his single, “Bar None,” was a late addition to the album. Davis chuckled, “Very late, very late edition.” He explained, “So that was an outside song. I think we’d had 15 or 16 songs cut. I kind of had my eye on a few other songs to announce the release, and I got this song in an email. Could not stop listening to it. From the demo, I drove around. I remember when I got it, I was probably six or seven minutes away from my house. Listened to it, listened to it again, and then got close to the house, and I was like, ‘All right, I need to take the block.’ I mean, I drove around for another 10 minutes. By the time I got out of the car, I already knew the song.”  

The singer-songwriter also shared he doesn’t ask his wife to listen to songs: “I don’t play songs for her, mainly because she shoots them all down.” He laughed, “And I can’t take that rejection.” But “Bar None” was an exception. “I came in and I was like, ‘Hey, I got this song you got to hear, I think it’s a hit.’ I played it for her, and she loved it. The next day was kind of, ‘Hey, we need to get in, we need [to] cut this song.’”  

“Mess with Missing You” is Davis’ collaboration with Carly Pearce. Smith asked how the collaboration happened. The “Singles You Up” singer admitted the duet was 12 years in the making. He said he met Pearce in 2012 and was one of the first people he met when he moved to Nashville. Davis also reflected on the glory days of Nashville: “Carly was always kind of a little bit in front of us, but like me and my two roommates at the time, we were songwriters working day jobs, trying to just stay in town and make music.”  

He added, “But on the weekends, we would all come over and hang out, and people would bring guitars, and we’d have these like jams at the house we lived in. So the first time I ever heard Carly play was when she was just sitting on the couch, and some buddies were playing some songs, and I remember being so new to Nashville that I was just like, ‘Dude, who is that? She’s really good!’ And everybody’s like, ‘Dude, that’s Carly Pearce!’”  

Davis said that was the first time he met Pearce, and they just remained friends. When the time came to record “Mess with Missing You,” he knew he always wanted to do something with Pearce: “We wrote ‘Mess with Missing You,’ and Carly was actually supposed to be there that day. And she ended up having a show in Florida, travel stuff happened, so she couldn’t make it. She ended up having to fly in the next day.”  

Don’t miss Davis hosting this week’s Backstage Country! If you thought you loved his music before, wait until you hear the real stories and inspiration behind the lyrics. Listen to his new album, Learn the Hard Way, here.