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Jon Pardi offered a heartfelt, relatable glimpse into his life as a father of two young daughters.
Pardi debuted “She Drives Away” on Friday (March 14), the latest track from his fifth studio record that’s due next month. Zach Abend, Jimi Bell, Seth Ennis and Jordan Minton teamed up to write the ballad, produced by Grammy-winner Jay Joyce. It “poignantly captures the emotional journey of a father witnessing his daughter grow up and letting her go,” per a press release issued Friday morning.
The history-making Grand Ole Opry star married his wife, Summer Pardi, in an intimate wedding in Tennessee in November 2020. Since then, they’ve welcomed two young daughters. Their firstborn, Presley Fawn Pardi, was born in February 2023. Her younger sister, Sienna Grace Pardi, arrived in July 2024. Pardi said on Friday morning that “She Drives Away” “is one of my favorite songs off the album and a tearjerker for all the parents out there.”
"‘She Drives Away’ is a song that I knew I was going to record immediately,” he said in a statement. “I think most dads of daughters will relate to it, but it reminded me so much of Summer and my journey. From when we started dating, to asking her dad for her hand in marriage, and then having our daughters. Now, I’ll go through it from the other side with my daughters. It’s a special song, and I’m really excited for people to hear it."
“She Drives Away” is the latest song to release from Pardi’s 17-track album, Honkytonk Hollywood. It follows “Friday Night Heartbreaker,” the title track and “Love The Lights Out.” Honkytonk Hollywood will arrive on April 11. See the full track list below.
“All my albums have been rock and roll with a country flare – this one keeps on rockin’. It’s also the most grown-up record I’ve ever made, all my soul basically. ‘Honkytonk Hollywood’ is for the Nashville that’s in my blood and it’s also a nod to my California roots. And right now, more than ever, I hope it’s a way to honor and lift up the people of my home state,” Pardi, from Dixon, California, said in a statement when he announced the record’s release date in January. Listen to “She Drives Away” here:
HONKYTONK HOLLYWOOD Track List:
1. Boots Off
2. Friday Night Heartbreaker
3. She Gets to Drinking
4. Gambling Man
5. Hey California
6. Rush
7. She Drives Away
8. He Went to Work
9. Last Call Thing
10. Honkytonk Hollywood
11. Love The Lights Out
12. Nice Place to Visit
13. Hard Knocks
14. Don’t You Wanna Know
15. Bar Room Blue
16. Who I Don’t Wanna Be
17. Kinda Wanna Keep It That Way