Jordan Davis needs a beard sponsor.
Since releasing his debut single in 2017, the country singer and songwriter has amassed more than 8.4 billion streams, earned several awards from both the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music and racked up a slew of gold and platinum singles, including the five-time platinum duet “Buy Dirt” with Luke Bryan.
That success led to Davis signing a deal with Wolverine for a line of boots and apparel as well as Cracker Barrel to promote its updated image, which has turned out to be immensely controversial among longtime fans of that brand.
But the singer has yet to find the right brand for his trademark facial hair.
“We couldn’t have beards in high school, but when I moved to Nashville and got a job bartending, I kind of let it go,” he says. “I wish I could say it was a look that I liked, but unfortunately, I was really struggling financially and cut all extra expenses out. So if I didn’t have to get a beard trim or haircut, I saved 25 bucks.”
Thankfully, Davis doesn’t have to worry about that now.
The singer just released his third studio album, “Learn the Hard Way,” which has already spawned a number of hits: “I Ain’t Sayin,” “In Case You Missed It,” “Know You Like That,” “Bar None,” the title track, and the latest single, “Turn This Truck Around.”
Although the Louisiana native and father of four is happily married, nearly all of the 17 songs on the album are about breakups. “I think my biggest fear is making the same record again, or having a fan say, ‘You know, it sounds like the last one.’ So we really went after some new sounds,” he says. “It’s easy for me to sit down and write about real life — fatherhood, being a husband — but we were trying to push the envelope on this one.”
That’s one of the special things about songwriting: “You get to play a character for three minutes or go back and pull out stuff you’ve gone through that people can relate to. A big reason it’s called ‘Learn the Hard Way,’ is that a lot of these songs have somebody kind of looking back and wishing they could change something. I think that’s a part of life — married, single, whatever — you can always go back and find something you could have done better.”
Davis spent more than two years writing and recording this album. Fans have loved a lot of what the artist has done since he broke through with “Single You Up” back in 2018. But despite all his success, he remains humble and grounded.
“I’m blessed to get to do this,” he says. “There are still days where I wake up and think it’s crazy that my job is to write songs and sing. When I moved to Nashville, if you’d told me I would have gotten to this point, I don’t think I would have believed you because I know how tough it is to make a living making music. The first four or five years in Nashville weren’t the easiest for me. I struggled finding my way and worked a lot of jobs. So I never take it for granted.”
He’s also managed to make some fast friends among the country music community in the past few years, including Luke Combs and Thomas Rhett. Davis toured with Combs in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. earlier this year and was gifted an Audemars Piguet watch from the headliner.
Jordan Davis
George Chinsee/WWD
“The coolest thing about Luke is how down to earth and humble he is,” Davis says. “That guy is the exact same person I met when he was playing 500-cap bars as when he was selling 65,000 tickets in stadiums. I get to talk to Luke a lot, and very seldom do we discuss music or songwriting. It’s a check in with his family, and he checks in on me.”
The artists have also undoubtedly seen the elevation of Davis’ style too. Although he still sometimes sports flannel shirts and jeans, he’s also become a fan of Rag & Bone, Todd Snyder and other classic men’s brands. “It’s crazy for me to look at photos of myself,” he says. “You just wonder what you were thinking. I fell victim to the tighter jeans and long T-shirts and kind of stayed in the Zara world.”
Comfort continues to be paramount for him, both on stage and off, and he opts for brands he grew up with such as Levi’s and Wrangler. That’s the reason he signed on with Wolverine.
“My grandpa and dad owned a furniture reupholstering company in my hometown for almost 50 years and they both always wore Wolverine. So when the opportunity came up, there was no way I was turning it down. It’s a boot I can wear on stage and then to dinner or working on the farm. And I’ve been stoked to get to work with them on apparel.”
So where does Davis see himself in the future? Hopefully juggling his career and home life more effectively.
“We’ve been touring so hard for the last six or seven years, and I’ve missed everybody’s first day of school,” he says. “I still don’t think I’ve written the best song I’ve ever written, and I don’t think I’ve made the best record that I can make. So I want to continue to grow as an artist, as a songwriter, as a performer, but I really want to strike a good balance between loving music and touring and being the dad and husband I can be.”
Davis’s children range in age from five to newborn and the older ones are just starting to understand what their dad does for a living. “They know I sing and they listen to my songs on Alexa,” he says. “But I have to tell them when they say, ‘Alexa, play Dada,’ that she doesn’t know who Dada is.”
