‘Best School in the World’: LSU Grad Jordan Davis to Perform on ESPN’s College GameDay
November 08, 2024
LSU graduate Jordan Davis may tour across the country, but his heart remains in Louisiana.
Jordan Davis
– Photo by Harper Smith
Over the past few years, Davis has solidified his place in the country music world, winning awards and gaining a loyal following. In 2024, with two chart-topping albums and hit singles like “Buy Dirt” and “What My World Spins Around,” Davis credits much of his resilience and drive to his time at LSU.
On Saturday, he’ll be part of ESPN’s College GameDay on LSU’s campus, with a live performance of his song “Buy Dirt.”
In 2019, he spoke to LSU about his educational and career path:
“LSU is the best school in the world,” Davis said. “I would not trade my time at LSU for anything, mainly because of the growing up I needed to do. I know I wouldn’t have been able to handle how the music career goes, the late nights, if I hadn’t had those formidable years that LSU gave me. I’m very, very grateful for Louisiana State University.”
A Shreveport native, Davis graduated from LSU with a degree in environmental management systems. He named his first album Home State in honor of Louisiana, and many of his songs, like “Louisiana Story,” echo his deep connection to his roots.
“There’s definitely some songs that started in Baton Rouge,” Davis said. “I have a song called "Home State," that didn’t make the album, but it talks about Saturday nights in Baton Rouge. The hook of that song is, ‘When I’m gone, rest my bones in my home state.’ I wrote it with my brother, it’s pretty special.”
“I know I wouldn’t have been able to handle how the music career goes, the late nights, if I hadn’t had those formidable years that LSU gave me. I’m very, very grateful for Louisiana State University.”
Jordan Davis
Growing up in a family that cherished both music and LSU, Davis was destined to be a Tiger fan. He began at LSU as a petroleum engineering major but eventually switched to environmental science, focusing on resource conservation. After graduating in 2011, he worked as an environmental consultant in Baton Rouge, though music always called to him.
“Music has always been a big thing in our family. My uncle is a songwriter and has a couple of number one songs, my dad writes songs. It’s just something we always had. Our mom was big on us going to school and getting a degree, it’s just what she wanted us to do.”
After graduation, Davis took a leap of faith and moved to Nashville to pursue songwriting, joining his brother, Jacob, another LSU grad and country artist. Nashville wasn’t easy at first, and Davis nearly gave up, considering a return to Louisiana to work in his field.
“But I just kept writing, and I got to a point where I was determined not to let Nashville
beat me,” he said. “I wanted success in music, so I kept pushing myself to write better
songs.”
“I decided that I wasn’t going to let Nashville win. I decided I was going to find
success in music and that’s when it started clicking. I just wanted to write songs.”
That perseverance paid off. A publisher shared his music with Universal Music Group, and in 2016, Davis signed a record deal. What began as a dream to write songs for other artists turned into a full-fledged performance career, as he discovered a passion for being on stage.
Since then, Davis has received numerous accolades, including CMA, ACM, CMT, American Music Award, Billboard Music Award, and iHeart Award nominations. His highly acclaimed second album, Bluebird Days, which became his second Platinum-certified album, produced four consecutive #1 hits and three “song of the year” titles, including the 5X Platinum-selling hit "Buy Dirt" (CMA Awards 2023, NSAI Awards 2023) and the 2X Platinum "Next Thing You Know" (ACM Awards 2024). Davis was also named Best New Country Artist at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in 2019 and earned the title of Billboard’s Top New Country Artist of 2018. While his music resonates with fans across the country, but he’ll always remember where he came from — Louisiana.
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