Call Me Country by Jon Pardi

Album: Heartache Medication (2019)

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Jon Pardi wrote this song about his country music heroes of the '60s and '70s. It was a time when the country scene was ruled by outlaws like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash.

Singin' songs about freight trains and prisons
Heartaches and honky-tonks
And cowboys and outlaws
Good-hearted women
In boots and straw hats
All gone, just like that

Pardi explained to Billboard: "That song is a reminder of paying tribute to my heroes of the '60s and '70s. The songs they would sing would never really translate to today. 'Gentle On My Mind' is such a great song. 'Folsom Prison Blues,' and all those prison songs and train songs. There were so many songs about trains back in the day. There was this different style. You can only hear those sounds from those guys. That's what the song's all about."
This song was penned by Pardi with Bart Butler and Driver Williams. It was the first track written for Heartache Medication and was composed the day after his previous album, California Sunshine, was turned in.

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