Jon Pardi Might Come Out of the Pandemic With a New Skill or Two
He's been spending more time at home recently due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, but Jon Pardi's still keeping plenty busy.
"We're building some stuff around my house that's keeping me really occupied, and then between writing every week and whatever pops up, there's a lot going on," the singer shares. "I'm not just binging on Netflix and stuff, even though sometimes you've gotta do that!"
Pardi's concert calendar has remained relatively full, too: In early July, he performed as part of Live Nation's Live From the Drive-in concert series in Nashville, and on Sept. 16, he and "Beer Can't Fix" duet partner Thomas Rhett performed their collaboration as part of the 2020 ACM Awards. The two teamed up for the track during Rhett's recent iHeartRadio Music Festival set, too.
"That's such a fun song that, I think it brings a light to any performance ... I just feel like that song is really happy, feel good," Pardi says of the upbeat, raise-a-glass-ready tune. "And I think [during] this performance ... you'll see the friendship between me and Thomas, and how we laugh and we still kind of goof around onstage [even if there's no audience]."
Pardi has also found a bit of time to try his hand at some new hobbies: He recently took acting classes, to help with his stage presence and interview demeanor, and he ordered a compass and map-reading book to try and teach himself the skill.
"That's just something I was gonna study," he explains, adding that he's down to get "lost" in the woods "after I read the book!"
Pardi and Rhett's 2020 iHeartRadio Music Festival performance will air on the CW Network as part of a two-night television broadcast of the show, set for Sunday and Monday (Sept. 27-28). Each night's broadcast will last from 8PM until 10PM ET.
Pardi will also be part of the upcoming iHeartCountry Festival, which was postponed from May 2 until Oct. 23. Usually an in-person concert in Austin, Texas, this year's event will air on iHeartMedia country stations and be available to stream on LiveXLive.com. Dierks Bentley, Lady A, Sam Hunt, Kane Brown, Kelsea Ballerini, Dustin Lynch, Riley Green, Morgan Evans and Gabby Barrett are all part of the show.