Jordan Davis Leans into Personal Stories and Creative Risks on ‘Learn The Hard Way’: ‘I Still Have Something to Prove’

When it came time to make his third studio album, Learn the Hard Way, out today (Aug. 15) on MCA Nashville, ACM and CMA award winner Jordan Davis tells Billboard he “wanted to take some chances.”

The 17-song album, which follows 2023’s acoustic-leaning Bluebird Days, strikes a balance of uptempo, radio-friendly hits and more emotional songs, with moments of creative risk-taking.

“I feel like songs like ‘Memory Don’t Mess Around’ feel a little bit outside of what I’ve done on past projects. And I wanted to have fun,” Davis says. “The last record I put out was pretty personal to me and covered a lot of things I never thought I’d write about. I wanted to make a record that I had fun recording and would be fun to play live. So really those were the two goals, and I feel like we accomplished both of them.”

Perhaps chief among those left-of-center songs is the swampy rocker “Louisiana Stick,” featuring vocals and scorching guitar work by Marcus King.

“It was not just his singing and guitar playing on it—he was a huge influence on that song,” Davis says. “I’ve been a fan of his for so long, I came into that writing session wanting to write something that felt like Marcus King making a song in New Orleans. I was listening to a lot of his music and to have him come in on this song about my home state and dip back into that style of music was special. He’s an amazing dude, a super talented guy.”

Davis co-wrote 13 of the album’s songs, bringing in writers such as Ashley Gorley, Lauren Hungate, Hillary Lindsey and Travis Wood. Themes of love and loss permeate the album on songs such as “I Ain’t Sayin,’” his current Billboard Country Airplay top 10 hit “Bar None,” and “Turn This Truck Around,” the latter of which was inspired by Davis’ childhood.

“I still remember my dad and his old Suburban,” he says. “Me, my brother [and frequent co-writer] Jacob and my sister fighting in the backseat and that was his go-to line: ‘Don’t make me turn this truck around,’” Davis recalls.

“He would say that while taking us to school and we would joke that we need to keep fighting because we didn’t want to go to school. It was one of those days where writing songs feels like it’s second nature and it’s one of my favorites off the record and just felt fun.”

Recently, both his personal life and career have been in full-throttle mode; he and his wife Kristen welcomed their fourth child, daughter Sadie, in July. This fall, he’ll bring this new slate of songs to fans on his Ain’t Enough Road Tour, which launches stateside in September with openers Mitchell Tenpenny, Vincent Mason and Mackenzie Carpenter, before heading to the UK and Europe in 2026 with Avery Anna and Solon Holt.

Billboard caught up with Davis to discuss his new album, collaborations, his life off the road and more.

You mentioned you were listening to a lot of Marcus King’s music while writing for the new album. Any songs or albums in particular?

It was “Goodbye Carolina.” That entire project [Carolina Confessions] is fantastic, but that was the one song that, really, there was just a feel of that song. Between that and another song of his called “Homesick.” There was something that he was doing, that I was like, “I’ve got to try to do my version of that,” and what came out of it was “Louisiana Stick,” so I appreciate Marcus for that. We just wanted it to be that kind of groovy South Louisiana, a rock song. And man, he crushed it.

You had some writers join you in Big Sky, Montana to write for the album. What do you love about writing retreats?

I feel like when you can kind of get out of town and just really focus on going to work writing songs, that’s where I always get my best stuff. So yeah, if it was up to me, I’d write everything on a retreat, to be honest with you. Probably going forward, that’s probably how a lot of my records will be written.

You have five Billboard Country Airplay chart No. 1s, and ACM and CMA Awards wins for song of the year (a CMA win for “Buy Dirt” and an ACM win for “Next Thing You Know”). What drives you creatively at this point in your career?

I think a lot of it is the drive to be better. I got a chance this morning write a letter to all the writers that made this record. I think there’s 25, 26 of them, and I got to write one to my brother [Jacob Davis, a writer on songs including “Keeping The World Away”]. I told him, “The coolest thing about this is that we haven’t written our best song yet.” We can always become better performers, we can become better songwriters, better singers. There’s always something to do to get a little bit better, and I still have that. I still have that kind of chip. Maybe it makes me feel like I still have something to prove. I hope I never lose that.

Have you written letters to fellow writers on your previous projects?

No, I think this is the first year we’ve really done it like this. It’s just a chance for me to put pen to paper and say thank you for making this album what it is. A lot of these writers took time away from their families and traveled to Montana or came out on the road with me. So it’s just a chance for me to say thank you to ’em and kind of acknowledge the effort they put into it.

You also have a duet on this album with your former ACM Honors co-host Carly Pearce, on “Mess With Missing You.” How did that come about?

I’ve known Carly since 2012 and she’s one of the first people I met when I moved to Nashville. She truly has one of my favorite voices ever. We had talked forever about trying to do a song together and I’m glad we didn’t force it, to try to make something happen sooner. This song was perfect. Even when we sat down to write it, we kind of envisioned Carly on it. I always thought our voices would go well together, but I got the recording back and it was even better than I expected.

You and your wife Kristen just welcomed your fourth child, daughter Sadie. How are you adjusting?

It’s a game-changer. Everybody asks, “What’s the hardest jump, one to two, or two to three?” The hardest jump is three to four. And before that, it was two to three. Anytime you add another kid to the bunch, it gets pretty crazy. But luckily she’s healthy as can be. Mama’s doing good, my two boys and my daughter love her to death. So outside of not sleeping a ton, everything is great at the Davis household. Even her being born, you kind of forget how little newborns are. After toting around my five-year-old and four-year-old. So yeah, it’s kind of crazy getting back into that newborn life.

Of the songs on the new album, are there any that your kids are gravitating towards?

My boys love “Turn This Truck Around,” that’s their jam. They were very happy when that got released and Alexa could play it—they didn’t have to play it from an email  anymore. My daughter loves “Louisiana Stick,” so she takes after her dad. She’s a big Marcus King fan, too. So those are the two favorites. And my wife actually loves “Louisiana Stick,” too.

What other artists are your kids fans of?

They love Luke Combs and “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma.” That gets played a lot at dinnertime in the house. When we were in Australia [opening for Combs in February], they came too, and I think it was the second show, Luke came over and said hi. So that was the first time I’ve ever seen my daughter kind of a little starstruck. My boys, there’s nothing that can phase those kids, but it was cool to see my daughter be like, “That’s the ‘Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma’ guy.”

There have been so many cross-genre collaborations in recent years; you have sung with pop singer Julia Michaels and with CCM-country artist Anne Wilson. Who else would you want to collaborate with?

Me and Thomas Rhett finally got to do a song here together recently, but outside of the genre, someone like [CCM artist] Forrest Frank. I’m obsessed with right now. And then, Lauren Daigle is another artist, and she’s from Louisiana and I’ve been listening to her for a long time.

Before you head overseas next year, Your Ain’t Enough Road Tour launches in September with Mitchell Tenpenny, Vincent Mason, and Mackenzie Carpenter. Do you think you might get a chance to do any songwriting with them on the road?

I’m hoping so. I’m a fan of all three of them. It’d be cool to do a little weekend where we all try to come up with something. So maybe that will happen.