Jordan Davis needs a beard sponsor.
Since its debut single was released in 2017, the country singer and songwriter has accumulated over 8.4 billion creeks, won several awards from the Country Music Society and the Country Music Academy, and won a series of gold and platinum singles, including the five-time Platinum Platinum Duet “Buy Buy Dirt” with Luke Bryan.
This success led to Davis signing a deal with Wolverine for a boot and clothing line as well as a cookie barrel to facilitate its updated image, and long-time fans of the brand have proven to be highly controversial among long-time fans of the brand.
But the singer has not found a brand that suits his trademark facial hair.
“We can't have a beard in high school, but when I moved to Nashville and got a job to mix bartender, I kind of let it go,” he said. “I wish I could say it was the look I like, but unfortunately, I was really struggling financially and cut all the extra costs. So if I didn't have to get a beard trim or a haircut, I saved $25.”
Thankfully, Davis doesn't have to worry about this now.
The singer has just released his third studio album, Learn The Hard Way, which has produced many hits: “I'm Not Sayin,” “If You Missed it,” “Know You Like That,” “bar none,” “None,” title track, the latest single, “Turn this Truck.”
Although Louisiana natives and father of four are happily married, almost all the songs on the album are about breaking up. “I think my biggest fear is to make the same record again, or have fans say, ‘You know, this sounds like the last one.’ So we do pursue some new sound,” he said. “It’s easy for me to sit down and write about real life – fatherhood, to be husband – but we try to push the envelope toward this one.”
It's one of the special things about songwriting: “You can play a character for three minutes, or go back and get out something you can relate to. That's a big reason, and that's called “the hard way to learn,” and it's a lot of these songs that go back and hopefully they can change something. I think it's part – married – single, part of you who can get in – you can do better, you can do better.
Davis spent more than two years writing and recording the album. Fans have loved a lot of what the artist has done since breaking with “Single Your Single” in 2018. But despite all his success, he remained modest and rooted.
“I’m lucky to be able to do that,” he said. “It’s crazy to have my job to write songs and sing. When I moved to Nashville, if you told me I’d come to the end, I wouldn’t believe you because I knew that Nashville wasn’t the easiest thing in the first four or five years in Nashville.
Over the past few years, he has also managed to make some quick friends in the country music industry, including Luke Combs and Thomas Rhett. Davis toured Australia, New Zealand and the United States earlier this year and presented the Audemars Piguet watch from the headlines.
Jordan Davis
George Chinsee / WWD
“The coolest thing about Luke's gospel is his down-to-earth and humility,” Davis said. “That guy is the exact same guy I met while playing 500 glasses of bars with him selling 65,000 tickets at the stadium. I rarely talk to Luke, and very few people talk about music or songwriting. It's check-in with my family, and he checked me on me.”
The artist undoubtedly also saw the height of Davis' style. Although he still wears flannel shirts and jeans at times, he has also become a fan of Rag & Bone, Todd Snyder and other classic men's brands. “It's crazy to me to look at my own pictures,” he said. “You just want to know what you're thinking. I became a victim of tight jeans and long t-shirts and stayed in the Zara world.”
Comfort is still crucial to him on stage and when it comes to the close, he chose his brands like Levi and Wrangler. That's why he signed with Wolverine.
“My grandpa and dad have owned a furniture redecoration company in my hometown for nearly 50 years and both of them are always wearing Wolverine. So when the opportunity comes up, I can't turn it down. I can turn it down. It's the boots I can wear on the stage and then work on the stage or on the farm. And I've been working with them in costumes.”
So where will Davis see himself in the future? Hope to take into account his career and family life more effectively.
“For the last six to seven years, we’ve been trying to tour and I miss everybody’s first day,” he said. “I still don’t think I’ve written the best songs I’ve ever written and I don’t think I’ve created the best records I can. So I want to continue to grow into an artist, songwriter, performer, but I really want to have a good balance between the music and touring of love and being a father and husband.”
Davis' children range from five to newborns, while older children are just beginning to learn about their father's living. “They know I sing, they listen to my songs on Alexa,” he said. “But I have to tell them, when they say, 'Alexa, play Dada,' she doesn't know who Dada is.”