Excitement is still buzzing both locally and across the country nearly five months after country music artist Jon Pardi filmed a music video at the Twin Sisters Dance Hall south of Blanco.

Pardi, 31, filmed the video for “Head Over Boots” at the old dance hall, which was constructed in the 1870s, on March 2. The song has climbed to as high as No. 4 on the “Billboard” magazine country chart and No. 1 on “MediaBase.”

The video hit fourth on the Country Music Television Hot 20 countdown and continues to stick around on the lineup.

The album “California Sunrise” debuted at No. 1 on “Billboard’s” country chart earlier this year. The single is featured on that album.

Pardi wrote the song after visiting Twin Sisters. Information from Capitol Records in Nashville, the album’s label, stated that the video is “light-hearted” and “follows a couple through the course of their courtship spanning from the 1950s through to present day.”

“I came up with that idea at a Texas dance hall,” Pardi told “Billboard” in an article published in May. “I was down there and watching people dance around – old couples and young couples. I wanted to have that song that people could dance to, and it felt good. (I) took that back to Nashville (and) wrote it with Luke Laird.

Laird is an American country music songwriter and producer. His 20 No. 1 “Billboard” singles include four sung by Carrie Underwood.

“It’s a great happy song,” Pardi said about “Head Over Boots.” “I feel happy when I play it. It’s got a unique title.”

He continued.

“As a songwriter, you always want to search for something that’s right in front of you that you can twist into something new.”

Pardi visited with the Blanco County News about the song and video last week.

He said he first visited Twin Sisters a couple of years ago or so.

“I was looking for a dance hall in Texas,” he said. “I knew there were some awesome ones there. My dad lives in Spring Branch, so one day while I was there visiting we checked out Twin Sisters.

“The idea for ‘Head Over Boots’ came while we were sitting there. I wanted to keep the song ‘Texas.’ I saw people dancing to old Merle Haggard songs and two-stepping to the music. I realized I wanted to have a love song that everyone would want to dance to.

“I brought the idea back to Nashville. I already had a melody in mind, and we wrote the lyrics after my visit there.”

The refrain for the song is as follows:

“You’re the one I want, you’re the one I need.

“Baby, if I was a king, ah, you would be my queen.

“You’re the rock in my roll, you’re good for my soul.

“It’s true. I’m head over boots for you.”

The video covers three eras: the 1950s, 1970s and present day. It was shot in its entirety at the dance hall in one day.

“They started at about 7 a.m. and finished at 1 a.m. that night,” said Jo Nell Haas, president of the board of directors for Twin Sisters Dance Hall. “It was an awesome day. It was a lot of fun.”

Pardi agreed.

“We started filming early in the morning and continued well after dark,” he said. “It was a beautiful day. It was a gorgeous day in the Hill Country of Texas.

“We were blessed to have a great day in a great spot. Everyone was in a great mood, and we had a great time.”

And Pardi said the video ended up being “amazing.”

“It’s really cool,” he said.

And, he said, that when he and his band dressed in 1950s and 1970s attire to film those portions of the video, it was like they were “stepping back in time.”

“Twin Sisters has old fliers hanging on the walls,” Pardi said. “The people in the fliers looked how we looked. The hall really fit us well.

“The song and the video tells a great story, and the hall is a big part of it. It’s an amazing place, and I think that shows in the video.”

Pardi specifically mentioned the first verse of “Head Over Boots” as the perfect example of how and why the hall fits his song.

“I wanna sweep you off your feet tonight.

“I wanna love you and hold you tight.

“Spin you around on some old dance floor.

“Act like we never met before.”

“That’s Twin Sisters,” he said.

Haas said that during a break in the filming, she and Pardi were standing together outside.

“I told him, ‘Thank you for keeping our country’s roots,’” she said.

“He said, ‘Thank you for keeping the dance hall as it should be.’”

Background

Haas said she first was contacted by Universal Music Group in Nashville in February.

“They called one evening,” Haas said. “The woman said they wanted to shoot a music video at the hall.

“I said, ‘Is this for real?’

“She said, ‘Yes.’

“The woman told me she had an artist who specifically asked to use our dance hall,” Haas said. “She didn’t tell me who he was for a while because they didn’t want word to leak out.”

However, over time, Haas said she discovered that Pardi was the artist. Back then, Haas said she didn’t know a whole lot about him.

That quickly changed.

“He remembered the hall,” Haas told the Blanco County News earlier this month. “He said he visited here and remembered watching families, and specifically couples, dance. He said that spun the idea for the song and that there was no place else where he wanted to shoot the video.”

“There are a lot of old dance halls in Texas,” Pardi said. “Twin Sisters just has that old school feel to it. I knew this definitely was the one.”

Haas said she was complimented over and over by many of the people who were on site to make the video.

“They loved the hall,” she said. “He (Pardi) told the story about a historic dance hall. Sure, there’s a love story inside it, but the hall is a priceless part.

“It was absolutely a neat experience.”

Haas has an autographed poster signed by Pardi as a keepsake.

“We was a very gracious young man,” she said. “He was a very sit-down-and-talk-to-you person. He showcased our hall. It made us all very proud.”

Jon Pardi

Online information states that Pardi performed the television debut of “Head Over Boots” on July 7 on NBC’s “Today Show.”

The music video has racked up more than 90 million streams across all platforms, Capitol Records information states.

Pardi has released five singles and two albums.

In March 2012, he released his debut single, “Missin’ You Crazy”. It debuted at number 58 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs, and it peaked at number 29.

“Up All Night”, his second single, was released in that same month in 2013, and became his first top 10 hit. His third single, “What I Can’t Put Down,” also was released that month in 2014.

The album’s fourth single, “When I’ve Been Drinkin,’” was released to country radio on Sept. 22, 2014.

Those four songs all appear on Pardi’s debut studio album, “Write You a Song,” which was released on Jan. 14, 2014 via Capitol Nashville.

Pardi served as one of the opening acts on Alan Jackson’s “Keepin’ It Country Tour” and on Dierks Bentley’s Riser Tour, both in 2014.

“Of all the new guys I’ve heard, I like that Jon is closer to country than most of the others,” Jackson said of Pardi. “I thought his songwriting was better than what I’ve heard in a while.”

Pardi’s first headlining tour was the “Up All Night Tour” in late 2014.

Pardi was raised in Dixon, Calif., and began writing music at age 12. He formed his first band two years later.

He was named one of “Rolling Stone’s” 30 must-see acts of 2016. “California Sunrise” already has been named one of “Rolling Stone’s” 25 best Country and Americana albums of 2016.

This fall, Pardi and Kip Moore will go on the road on the “Me and My Kind Tour.”

“Being at Twin Sisters was an amazing experience,” Pardi said. “I hope people keep playing the song and keep dancing to it. That’s what it’s all about.”

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