Jon Pardi, CMA New Artist of the Year Nominee, By The Numbers

When we were first asked to do a feature on Jon Pardi a few weeks back, it was because the country artist was putting up some eye-catching numbers. And, by the time this article finally saw the light of day, those numbers were overshadowed by even better figures.

Pardi, who is expected to perform at the CMA Awards in Nashville tomorrow night where he is up for two major awards, is in the midst of the “CMT On Tour Presents Jon Pardi’s Lucky Tonight Tour,” which will continue through December. At first, the tour showed some very interesting trends: Pardi, for his first-ever visit to Savannah, Ga., sold about 4,000 tickets to Grayson Stadium, the most tickets the venue sold since Bob Dylan played there in 2005. Then there was Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, Texas, where he sold out the venue days in advance.

“Selling out a show at Billy Bob’s Texas is no small feat and very rarely does it happen well before the day of show,” the venue said in a statement to Pollstar. “In fact, the last show to sell out days in advance of their performance was Florida Georgia Line in November of 2013.”

Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP – Jon Pardi
Accepts the award for new male vocalist of the year at the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Well, that was then and this is now. The tour is CMT’s fastest-selling tour to date. Pardi’s team has since then announced the entire 17-date run as sold out.

Pardi’s agent, Kylen Sharpe of CAA, noted that it was correct to venture that there is something special going on here and not a passing phase.

“I think a really good illustrator of this is the fact that we’re playing the Palladium in Worcester, Mass, which is a legendary rock venue that has never done a country show before,” Sharpe said. “They have no country list to market to and we are sold out.”

As for Pardi himself, he was taking it all in stride but was well aware of the success.

“This one couple came to our show from Saskatchewan (Canada). They drove 30 hours to see us,” Pardi told Pollstar. “It’s happening a lot and, man, I’m so grateful to have fans like that.”

He still gets a chance to gauge the fans at the meet & greets. What exactly is the reason for such dedication? The answer was obvious.

“The music,” Pardi said. “I always ask them why they would travel so far, and they always say they love the music, and they’re so happy to see my show.”

Pardi has had some great looks, as they say, touring with Dierks Bentley and Cole Swindell, as well as Kip Moore and Alan Jackson, and he will head out as direct support for Miranda Lambert starting next year.

Even though support slots on major tours are important, Pardi mentioned that his career has arrived without much initial help from radio but those are the old days: “She Ain’t In It” was the most-added song on country radio in late October with more than 50 first-week stations playing the tune. It follows three consecutive No. 1 hits off of his Gold-certified album California Sunrise.

Pardi, the ACM New Male Vocalist of the Year, is up for several awards tomorrow night, including CMA New Artist Of The Year. and Single of the Year for his rendition of “Dirt on My Boots.”