After graduation, he and a high school chum named named Chase McGrew teamed up and played accoustic gigs around town.  "Those were some of the fun times," Jon recalls, "and that's when I learned that slow songs don't go over when you're trying to sell beer, so I learned a lot of really up, fast songs that I still like doing today." 

Eventually, the duo moved to nearby Chico to attend Butte Junior College and formed a band called Northern Comfort.  A few years later, Jon had saved up enough money to head out to Music City to pursue a solo career.  "I'd known I was going to move to Nashville since I was 19," he says. 

"You need to have a level head to move here, to be confident enough to say, ‘I’m going to do it.' I felt like I was ready and I started out on February 23, 2008, with my mom crying as I drove away." 

For the next four years or so, Jon did a lot of songwriting and produced a few demos, one of which ended up in the hands of Capitol Records Nashville president, Mike Dungan, who offered the up-and-coming singer a recording contract.  There is now an album in the works and Jon has already released a new single called "Missin' You Crazy" that is currently on the WIRK playlist. 

Expect big things from Jon Pardi in the not-to-distant future.  Meanwhile, take a look at the video of him and his band on the loose in the Windy City.  It's pretty hilarious...