American country star Jordan Davis is kicking off his Australia and New Zealand tour this week – and he couldn’t be more excited.
The tour, kicking off in Auckland on Thursday (March 19th), comes with even more momentum behind him than ever before, including 2025’s Learn the Hard Way.
Learn the Hard Way marked a subtle but significant evolution in Davis’ sound. Created alongside longtime collaborator Paul DiGiovanni, the album leans further into blues and soul textures while maintaining the emotional directness that has made him a mainstay on country radio.
Davis has steadily deepened his connection to Australia over the past few years. When he last visited as part of Luke Combs’ tour in 2025, he walked away with a sense that fans Down Under might be one of the most receptive groups to his brand of heartfelt storytelling.
Ahead of his opening show tomorrow night, Davis caught up with Rolling Stone AU/NZ to talk about the new album, bringing Learn the Hard Way to life on stage, and why Australian crowds continue to stand out.
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Are you excited about your Australian tour? When was the last time you were here?
I’m so pumped for this tour, we’ve been looking forward to getting back to Australia since we were there last year on the Luke Combs tour. The fans were unreal – those were some of the most fun shows I’ve ever played and I know this tour will be the same so I’m looking forward to get back over there!
What’s your favourite memory from your last visit here?
The Brisbane show was pretty memorable – it started raining right at the end of our set during “Buy Dirt” and to see everyone standing in the rain singing the last chorus with us was pretty special.
Tell us about your special guests! Such a great trio of acts. What made you choose them for these shows?
We have Tucker Wetmore, Vincent Mason, and Rachael Fahim coming out with us on the ‘Ain’t Enough Road Tour’ for the shows over in Australia. I met Rachel when we were over in Australia last year at a showcase and became such a big fan of her so I’m stoked she is out with us to open these shows. We had Vincent out with us this past fall on our headlining tour across the United States so it will be fun to have him back out!
I’ve known both Vincent and Tucker for a while now and it’s been awesome to see both of them take off and see all the success they are seeing now. I have no doubt that they are both going to win over a lot of fans after this tour. I couldn’t have thought of a better lineup for this run of shows.
Are there any Australian artists who’ve inspired you over the years?
I think I was first introduced to rock by AC/DC and haven’t stopped listening to them since. Now, every Christmas, my kids listen to Sia’s Christmas album on repeat!
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What are you expecting from the Australian crowds? How do they differ from crowds back home?
The Australian crowds and fans are awesome. The energy is wild – I think that is because we don’t get Down Under often as much as we would like to so there is a little bit more excitement from us and them. They make for some awesome shows!
We’ve got to ask for our New Zealand readers – any NZ shows planned soon?!
We are kicking this tour off in Auckland and we’re stoked, I hope in the future we can plan a few more stops in NZ, but definitely pumped we are starting this run off in Auckland and see the fans there!
How was it playing iconic venues back home like Radio City Music Hall and Red Rocks? Those must have been special.
They were very special – I know every artist has those few bucket list venues that they have always wanted to play and both of those two venues were at the top of the list for me. I had a bunch of family and friends come out to those shows which helped make those two nights even more unforgettable, I’m already counting down to get back to both of those venues.
Tell us about your latest album! What themes did you explore?
Learn the Hard Way was the most fun I’ve had making an album. My longtime producer, Paul Digiovanni, produced this project and I feel like we both touched on some sounds we hadn’t explored on past records. I really wanted to bring in some of the blues and soul influences I have which I think we accomplished on “Louisiana Stick” – to have Marcus King be a part of that on this record was awesome.
Carly Pearce also was a part of this record on “Mess With Missing You” – it was really cool to have a longtime friend be a part of it as well. We set out to make an album that has songs that make you want to hear them live and I think we accomplished that. It has been awesome getting to play these out on the road!
Will your setlist mostly be tracks from this album? Any old favourites set to sneak in?
We are going to play a lot of songs off the new album, but we will definitely hit some of the favourites as well. I love switching it up and playing some older songs off past albums. I also try to listen to the fans and see what songs they want to hear. The setlist is kind of ever changing.
What else do you have coming up this year?
It was a pretty busy start to the year with bringing the headlining tour over seas to the United Kingdom and Europe and now over to New Zealand and Australia! Once we get back to the States, we have a fairly busy summer playing some shows but I really am taking time this to spend time writing and recording which means rolling out more music for you all throughout the year.
Hopefully, we’ll be able to get a new project recorded and out – which will hopefully mean, we’ll have another chance to get down to Australia and New Zealand to play some more shows!
