Capitol NashvilleThe original version of Jon Pardi‘s “Ain’t Always the Cowboy” is nearing country’s top ten right now, but there’s also another, more cinematic take on the song, from the California native’s new Deluxe Edition of his Heartache Medication album. 

“I thought about it as like a little movie soundtrack, a little movie, like I’m scoring the movie in my head,” Jon tells ABC Audio. “And that’s how we all kind of came up with this.”

“It kinda starts out real intimate, you know,” he explains, “kind of going with the lyrics, and it kind of builds.”

“And then to where, at the very end, I just see her riding away on the horse into the sunset, and the violins are just playing,” Jon adds, as he imitates the strings.

Known as the “Western Version,” Jon’s new interpretation of “Ain’t Always the Cowboy” has proven to be a hit with the fans.

“We’ve kind of built it up to just kind of be different, instead of just like rockin’ all the time…” he observes. “We’ve had a lot of great feedback on it…people really loved that version.” 

The Deluxe Edition of Heartache Medication comes one year after the original release of the ACM-nominated album, and adds the new tracks “Bar Downtown” and “Beer Light.” 

It’s up for Album of the Year at next month’s CMA Awards as well.  The show will air on ABC Wednesday, November 11 at 8 p.m. ET, live from Nashville. 

By Stephen Hubbard
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