Jordan Davis gets vulnerable with new album 'Bluebird Days'

Jordan Davis' "Bluebird Days" -- his second album in five years -- is out on Feb. 17, 2023. With its release, he will have created as many EPs as long-play records, yielding only seven songs as singles played on country radio.

His measured strategy for country music stardom is working.

Davis' 2022 Country Music Association Song of the Year award winner, "Buy Dirt," is one of four No. 1 hits for him on country radio. In addition, he's achieved nothing lower than a top-five placement on the medium and has consistent top-ten sales numbers.

Achieving that level of acclaim hasn't come without pitfalls, though.

"I've been creatively paralyzed by being in a weird headspace. I've felt the pressure that people expect me to re-write ["Buy Dirt"]," Davis tells The Tennessean candidly while sitting in a suite at Nashville's Blackbird Studio. "However, songwriting doesn't work that way."

A conversation about his latest release is rooted in his appreciation of traditional American family values and a breakdown of the core elements required to achieve extraordinary consistency at the pinnacle of country music's mainstream commercial expectation.

That discussion begins with Brooks & Dunn and Keith Whitley.

In an era between 1988-1996, the late Whitley and still legendary singer-songwriter tandem of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn achieved 15 No. 1 singles between them. For 34-year-old Shreveport, Louisiana native Davis -- whose uncle was a songwriter -- those love ballads and rocking tales of red dirt, honky-tonk nightlife created a stylistic expectation of what the best of mainstream country music should represent.

"The songs artists like [Brooks & Dunn and Keith Whitley] created were honest and authentic. So being inspired by that standard and reaching for greater honesty with the best songs I can write is important."

He digs even deeper still into his 90s country influences and rattles off Tracy Lawrence's 1991 hit "Today's Lonely Fool" and two 1998 classics -- Steve Wariner's "Hole In The Floor of Heaven" and Lee Ann Womack's "A Little Past Little Rock" -- for good measure.

Regarding his adoration for '90s country as an influence, the album track "Tuscon, Too Late" finds him paired again with his brother Jacob, plus Josh and Matt Jenkins -- the same brother quartet wrote, "Buy Dirt."

However, the song bears a striking lyrical and sonic similarity to Keith Whitley's 1985 breakout hit "Miami, My Amy."

It's purposeful but highlights moreso how Davis would ideally love to see his career travel in the same trajectory as the 2022 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee.

"[Keith] pushed boundaries as a composer, performer and songwriter. Meeting the expectation of the same career moments as the artists I grew up idolizing is important. [Accepting] that I could [fairly attempt] to be that level of [creator] and occupy that headspace was cool."

The song represents the album's strongest material. As a stand-alone single, the story of a man chasing after a love he's nearly lost balances with Davis' run of romantic hits extolling the virtues of blissful togetherness like "Slow Dance In A Parking Lot" and "What My World Spins Around."

Even deeper in this vein of expanding expectations is the album's title track.

"Bluebird Days" are described by avid duck hunter Davis as ones where it's cloudless, sunny and cold. They're uncomfortably comparable to the song's topic -- his parents' divorce.

Davis "never thought" he'd write about his parents' separation because he felt the topic was too close to his core humanity to be involved in his musical pursuits, too. However, writing obliquely about the subject allows the song to ring personal and universal in appeal and tone.

"Divorce is part of life and still happens a ton. Also, it reminded me that I should always fight for my own marriage (he's been married for five years). Marraige is sometimes challenging and if I ever wanted a way out of it, consequences do exist. I've got two kids of my own now and I don't want to put them through that."

At one point, while playing back the album, a brief yet telling moment occurs.

While describing "Sunday Saints" -- another album track about the dichotomy of being a "Saturday sinner and a Sunday saint" -- his voice slips, and his rarely heard deep Cajun accent appears.

"You know, this song is about having a good time, seeing those same people at church the next day -- and yeah, I'm a fan of the [New Orleans Saints], so, yeah, I got to get some of that in there, too (there's a bridge near the end of the track set to the melody of "When The Saints Go Marching In"), says Davis, as "Go Saints" humorously sounds like "Geaux Saints!"

Davis speaks fondly as well on this album about fishing with his grandfather in East Texas and the track "Money Isn't Real" notes how glad he is that he pursued the career in music that his heart yearned for over the one in geological engineering that his brain pursued at Lousiana State University.

Between showcasing his Cajun roots, expanding his love of family past joyous reflections of his immediate relatives and doubling down on boldly taking his own advice, Davis' second album showcases comfort in his skin and talents.

"I sat in a deer stand for three hours and developed the blueprint and parameters for ["Bluebird Days"]. Then, without writing anything down, I discovered vulnerable ideas and themes I wanted to touch upon. My songwriting process used to be the equivalent of throwing paint at a wall. But now, we're throwing paint at a well-defined spot on a wall. That made a world of difference for everyone involved in this record -- the co-writers, engineers, musicians, and producers."

"I can sleep easier having made this record," says Davis, exhaling. "It's me, stripped down, not hiding behind anything. It's real and reflects the story of my life.