The characters of Broadway were out and about.
Jon Pardi is entering a new era of music. The California native announced last week his forthcoming record, Honkytonk Hollywood, which is slated for release on April 11th. When Pardi announced the record, he also released the title single and the music video for the previously released track, “Friday Night Heartbreaker,” which will also appear on the album’s tracklist.
In the music video for “Friday Night Heartbreaker,” the Grand Ole Opry member strayed from the traditional music video filming style found in country music and made more of a cinematic experience, bringing in circus actresses and actors to help portray the mind games the woman is playing on a man. Pardi describes this “Friday Night Heartbreaker” as a Devil in disguise, a hellraiser, a game player, and more so to have the eccentric circus performers featured in the video helps bring those adjectives to life.
This new video was filmed in Nashville’s historic Printer’s Alley and directed by Jim Wright.
“I always enjoy filming with Jim Wright, even if it means being in Printer’s Alley until 2 AM. You really see some wild characters down there at that hour. One of my favorite parts of the shoot was chatting with the actors and actresses who performed the circus stunts—they were amazing!
All I had to do was play guitar and drive a cool car while they were over there breathing fire and swallowing swords. It was awesome to watch it all come together!”
The end product of the video is stellar, but being in Printer’s Alley until 2 AM can lead him to run into some interesting characters. During a sit down with Kelleigh Bannen for Today’s Country Radio, Pardi detailed some characters they encountered while filming.
“One guy tried to ride a motorcycle through the set. It’s all on camera somewhere. They were literally like, ‘This is our alley (Pardi makes engine revving noises).’ Then one, like we had a big grip guy, whatever you call them, running the camera, clotheslined this dude, dropped the bike. I’m by the car because he was going to run into the car. Everybody’s drunk.”
While the motorcycle group was crazy, that was just the start of the chaos taking place in Printer’s Alley because shortly after they passed through, another man walked out and told Pardi and the film crew that he owned the alley and they weren’t allowed to film there.
“He’s like, ‘This is my alley, I own the alley. What are you doing? Do you have a permit?’ Like, yeah, we got a permit. But I was like, ‘You own the alley, huh? What are you doing at 2 AM wasted right now…’”
Apparently, the “alley owner” then had a little henchman backing him up that this man owned the alley. Pardi acknowledges that some of these “alley owners” might own property on Printer’s Alley, but that does not equate to owning the space behind the building.
Talk about a wild ride trying to film this music video. You never know what you will see off-Broadway in the early morning hours.
There were some characters out when we filmed the Friday Night Heartbreaker video 😂
Hear the full interview with @kelleighbannen on this week’s #TODAYSCOUNTRY on @AppleMusic https://t.co/h87ugU7yfP pic.twitter.com/kjmDLanGYE
— Jon Pardi (@JonPardi) January 17, 2025
If you haven’t watched the music video yet, check it out while you’re here.
Honkytonk Hollywood Tour Dates:
4/25/2025 – Lubbock, TX – United Supermarkets Arena
4/26/2025 – Las Cruces, NM – Pan American Center
5/15/2025 – Tucson, AZ – Tucson Arena
5/16/2025 – Prescott Valley, AZ – Findlay Toyota Center
5/29/2025 – Toledo, OH – Huntington Center
5/30/2025 – Indianapolis, IN – Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park
5/31/2025 – Evansville, IN – Ford Center
6/5/2025 – Highland Heights, KY – Truist Arena
6/6/2025 – Pittsburgh, PA – Petersen Events Center
6/7/2025 – Allentown, PA – PPL Center
6/11/2025 – Regina, SK – Brandt Centre
6/12/2025 – Lethbridge, AB – VisitLethbridge.com Arena
6/14/2025 – Kelowna, BC – Prospera Place
6/18/2025 – Idaho Falls, ID – Mountain America Center *
6/20/2025 – Airway Heights, WA – BECU Live at Northern Quest *
6/21/2025 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater *
* TBA and Kassi Ashton