Jon Pardi recently surprised fans by releasing the unannounced album RANCHO FIESTA SESSIONS, which features music that he is inspired by, and also loves performing. Two of the songs on the 8-track project, are from George Strait, “Marina Del Rey” and “Right or Wrong.” Both songs were from George’s albums from the 1980s, and had a Texas Swing style, which Jon enlisted his fiddle player Billy’s help in perfecting that musical sound for the songs. But “Right or Wrong” made the album for a very special reason—it reminds Jon of growing up with his grandmother. While George’s influence, not only on Jon, but all of country music, is quite evident, Jon wanted to make sure he put that song among this group of songs.

“One of my favorites because it reminds me of growing up with my grandmother, and it also reminds me of just that early Strait sound that kind of links me back to a time period, and I know everybody who listens to music has that feeling, that you hear a song and it reminds you of your grandma’s backyard. And I wanted to learn the jazz chords, and stuff. ‘Right or Wrong’ was a Texas swing — lots of jazz, so Billy (his fiddle player), taught me a lot of — here’s how you play Texas swing, and that’s not something everybody can do,” says Jon. “So, it was more of a stretch now in doing something hard and fun in a song you grew up doing and from one of your heroes. George, like all these guys we covered, he wrote a little bit of his stuff, but he also covered all kinds of songs and he also cut outside songs, and he’s just been a guys I always looked up too. I love his music, and he taught me a lot about song selection, you know, I think he’s taught everybody in country music about song selection.”

While you’re checking out RANCHO FIESTA SESSIONS, you can also check out Jon’s other song “Ain’t Always the Cowboy” which is climbing the charts as a top 20 hit!