Jon Pardi says he was being intentional about conjuring the spirits of country legend on his new album Heartache Medication. “Country is becoming such an all-genre thing, and it’s cool and all, but how far are we gonna go before we lose that country style?” Pardi asks Rolling Stone Country.

“This was about my ‘70s country heroes, the Waylons, the Willies, and Merle. Merle passed and that hit me. I never got to meet Merle. But they live on through radio, through us playing their songs.” He goes on to describe his sound as “traditional rock-n-roll with traditional country,” adding, “When I say traditional rock & roll, I mean the Rolling Stones and ZZ Top, Chuck Berry.” Heartache Medication is out now.

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