Jordan Davis transformed himself from a Nashville newcomer into a countrywide chart-topper with 2018’s Home State. Inspired equally by the old-school songwriters of his parents’ generation and the high-production dynamics of modern country radio, Home State was a once-in-a-decade debut, filled with fresh material — including the Number 1 hits “Slow Dance in a Parking Lot,” “Take It From Me,” and “Singles You Up” — that bridged the gap between the classic and the contemporary.

That unique sound owed its diversity to Jordan’s roots in Shreveport. Raised by a family of songwriters (including his uncle, Stan Paul Davis, who wrote hit songs for Tracy Lawrence during the 1990s), he grew up in the cultural melting pot of northern Louisiana, within a day’s drive of New Orleans’ jazz clubs, Mississippi’s juke joints, and East Texas’ country saloons. Music was everywhere, and Jordan happily soaked it up. “I never felt drawn to one specific genre,” he remembers. “I was just drawn to songwriting. It didn’t matter if I was listening to folk music or southern rock — if it was a well-crafted song, it would pull me in.”

Years later, Jordan’s the one pulling people in. Buy Dirt, his eight-song follow-up to his self-titled EP and his debut album, Home State, is a record for the modern-day Spotify generation — for music fans whose tastes are all-encompassing, influenced by genre-crossing playlists and the ever-widening range of contemporary country music. Songs like “Drink Had Me” and “Lose You” mix Nashville twang with poppy punch, rooted in beats that owe as much to the dance club as the honky tonk. At the same time, Jordan fills Buy Dirt with the same ingredients that made classic country so great: southern storytelling, timeless melodies, a blue-collar work ethic, and the willingness to break new ground.

“I’ve always loved artists who take risks,” he says. “I’m in a different spot in my life than I was when I released Home State. We all are! 2020 was a tough time for everyone. I was able to use that time to recenter some things in my world, and I didn’t want those lessons to go to waste. I wanted to create something special. The best way to that was to write honestly, and we did a lot of that on this record.”