Conversations with Jordan Pickett

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan Pickett

Jordan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Hi! My name is Jordan Pickett and I am a 21 year old Country/Christian singer/songwriter and began my music career when my Grandpa passed away in 2017.

In the beginning, I received a set of drums for Christmas when I was around the age of 13. The following year, I received a Squire Mini Stratocaster electric guitar and a small Marshall amplifier. For some reason, I stuck to the drums for a while. I didn’t know what I was doing but I played the absolute crap out of them drums; Morning, noon and yes, 3am. Just to show you how supportive my family has been since the beginning… I was never told to stop, never told “Shut up!”.. Instead, I received praise from my siblings and parents and applaud for my work ethic and progress. With said, when 3am rolled around, my parents would walk up stairs and say “Jordan.. go to bed son..” but I could have expected that considering our wood floors and my room being directly above theirs! Truly, it is the smallest moments like those that I believe have set me apart and boosted my success.

My immediate family is not very musical however, my dad has enjoyed singing his whole life and on his side of the family, there are many talented musicians. Our Christmas parties and family gatherings around holidays were always so much fun growing up. If I close my eyes, I can still hear each of my family members, both here and passed, singing “Frosty The Snowman”, “Silent Night”, and other similar songs as we were all gathered in the living room with a couple guitars.” All said, at an early age, I learned to feel the joy and understand the blessing of family, love, and.. music!

My Grandpa passed away in 2017 and it shook me, it really hit me hard. He was the closest person to me that I had ever truly lost. My parents pulled me out of school one day to share the news and when I got back home, I took all of those emotions and spilled them into a song, my very first original song, titled: “I Will Never Forget You”. I had never written a song, only taken guitar during my freshman year of highschool, and had hardly sang loud enough for myself to hear.. but on that day, my lack of talent didn’t matter to me; laying my emotions into that guitar was all I could focus on. I finished the song, showed my parents the following night and my Dad asked if I would sing it at Paw Paw’s Funeral that weekend. I was scared but of course I said yes, knowing what an honor it would be.

After the funeral, I continued exploring deeper into music. I started writing about anything and everything I saw before me; at home, at school, in the car.. and I began to get better at it. I had been playing one of my Dad’s acoustic guitars for a while and then one of our life long friends, Rob, gave me my first acoustic guitar. That guitar and a piece of paper quickly became my therapist and I truly enjoyed learning all I could.

Around this time, I have memories of my dad singing along to a Randy Travis CD that was always in the van. When you cranked the car, it would start playing. His love for Don Williams, Randy Travis, and George Strait was naturally passed down to me and quickly became my inspiration. I began to learn songs by artists like these. The music, the lyrics, the stories, it just felt like home to me.

My Mom and Dad got me my first microphone, mic stand, and speaker and I began practicing. I spent many days passing up memories with friends for full days of practicing alone in my room, perfecting the few songs I had learned or wrote myself. I began to find local venues that allow live music and I played for tips, I just wanted to play. After doing this a while, people wanted to hire me and offered to pay me to perform for their event or venue. I quickly became busy transforming my 10 songs into a full 3-4 hour set and began performing locally. You can bet that my family, Mom and Dad especially, were with me at every single show.

Fast forward to my Junior year of highschool, COVID-19 became a thing and shut down the world. My preacher, Jason Dickerson, was battling the acceptance of not having church. He came to me and asked if I could set up a speaker for him to preach in the parking lot where people could stay in the comfort of their own cars or bring lawn chairs to enjoy the service from a distance. Little did we know, this was a hit! The community building parking lot of our little hometown became flooded with cars and it was clear that this was necessary to continue each week. It seemed that all of Silk Hope was sitting in that parking lot! Jason told me he wanted to call the service “Silk Hope A.C.T.S. Worship”, standing for “All Christians Together Serving.” This would not only be a worship service but a service ministry, providing a way for us to come together in Christian faith and help those in need around the community. He also asked if I could sing 3 songs for the next service and just like my Grandpa’s funeral, I was nervous but I said yes! I just needed to go home and learn a whole new setlist because up until that point, I had spent all my time learning Merle Haggard and Randy Travis! With the help of the good Lord above and some long nights, I accomplished this new task that God had placed on my heart and began singing for our worship service each week. I have grown up in church and my home has always been a faithful setting, but it was during this time that I personally became extremely close with God. I began writing songs about him, singing about him, and reading about him; I couldn’t get enough of it. With COVID-19 creating such tragedy and discomfort across the world, it was a time of learning, progression and faith building for me. I give much credit of my music career to God and our little parking lot worship service as it truly shaped me as a person and as a musical artist. When the church doors opened up, Jason asked me to be the Pianist. As it seems to be a pattern by now, I had no idea what I was doing, was nervous, but gladly accepted the offer.

In 2022, I began my journey with Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC) in High Point, NC so that I could stay close to home and still learn about the music industry. With my Commercial Music Associates Degree in the making, each week provided the perfect storm as I would go to school Monday-Friday learning about live sound, studio recording, music theory and more, then leave school to meet Mom and Dad to set up at my own acoustic gig Friday and Saturday night. The following morning, I would play piano and sing for Church and then do it all over again starting Monday!

I recently graduated from GTCC and took on music full time. With help from my Dad, we gained one of the coolest additions in my career thus far, a tour bus! With help from some local businesses and sponsors, we got it fully wrapped with my name down the side and my sponsors on the back. I formed a band with some friends I had met at college in order to perform one of my original songs at the House of Blues, Myrtle Beach, SC as part of the Carolina Country Music Awards with “Sweet Tea’s” Carolina Country Radio. I continued to grow as an artist and began learning how to run a band and operate a business. I went through many ups and downs with the band; people joined, people left, people joined, people got fired, people joined and we finally got steady enough for some to stay around. It was a rough year but we played some cool shows and made it through. A couple of my favorite shows that year were headlining the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, NC as well as the Randy Travis Music Festival in Marshville, NC where I got to sing a Randy Travis song in front of the man himself. After reading my story and hearing the memories associated with his music, you can understand how cool of a moment it was for me to shake his hand.

Currently, I have been back in the studio recording some new songs, I’ve been writing a lot, and have traveled across the Carolinas. I’ve played shows in all of the surrounding states with my band, my bus, my audio, representing my sponsors, and most importantly, I’ve done it all with my family. I want to give a big shoutout to my Dad, who not only chooses to be there for all the Dad things (like being my fishing buddy at 5am), but he chooses to be there as my business pattern too. He is my bus driver, mentor, mechanic, biggest supporter, load in crew, load out crew, sound man… the list goes on and so does my thanks. I’d like to give one more big thank you to all of my sponsors who have helped me get that bus on the road, my whole family for supporting this crazy journey, my fans (who I like to call my “Frans”.. cause they’re more like friends to me), and of course, any and all glory goes to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as I wouldn’t even be here without him. I will continue to live my life to the fullest, strive to succeed and follow where God leads.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road, no. In fact, there came a time in 2023 that I couldn’t even see the road. It was so blurry to me that I needed a break, I needed to step away. I was tired, I was becoming burnt out, my faith and role in the church was slipping, my closest relationships felt like they were slowly falling apart, and it all had to do with my music.

I had many people telling me to write down my goals, write out my plan, asking whats next.. but heck, I hardly knew what the next day was! While I do believe those people are justified in wanting those answers and it is all very good to write down your goals, everybody opporates differently and those were simply the wrong questions to be asking myself during that time, I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t know any of the answers and the weight of making decisions, knowing how they would affect more lives than just my own, was heavy.

After taking in everyones advise and listening to myself, I sat down and did the exact opposite of what everyone was asking. I asked myself what I didn’t like about what was going on. I wrote down what I didn’t want my goals to be, wrote out and visualized what the plan looked like if A, B and C weren’t in it. I funneled it down to 3 things that I felt strongly about. God, family, and myself.

God: I wanted to restore my faith and provide a better service in regards to my position at the church. I loved church but I didn’t like that I would be unprepared when Sunday morning came. I wasn’t performing to the ability that I knew I could.

Family: I know my family will always be there for me, but in a way, I felt like I was so focused on me and building my own career that I wasn’t there for them. I didn’t like that feeling and needed to make a change.

Me: I have always been a smaller build, but I was struggling more than ever to keep my weight up and I didn’t even realize how unhealthy I was becoming. I wasn’t making time to eat before my shows, and afterwards was too tired to eat. I spoke with the local gym, Triangle Fitness of Siler City and they introduced a personal training program that they offer, “Downey’s Dungeon”. They are now a proud sponsor of my music and I am a proud representative of their gym and fitness program. With their help, I have gained almost 30 lbs and surpassed my gym goals.

In a way, I thank God for the struggles that he threw in my path. Without these struggles happening early on, I may have never realized just how important it is to me to have God, family and obtain strong physical and mental health. With this groundwork laid down, I can be a better and stronger person for me and those around me.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I wear multiple hats for my job: a ballcap, cowboy hat, fedora.. haha, while i’m not joking about that, I am actually referring to my many roles. I get to play the role of a manager, singer, songwriter, social media influencer, friend, computer nerd, mechanic, sound engineer, and more! During the weekdays, I am often booking shows, responding to emails, and managing my social media so that people know where my next shows are. Most mornings, I am making calls, sending emails, and writing interviews such as the one you’re reading now! Oftentimes in the evenings, I am working with Dad to get the tour bus and audio truck prepped for the weekend, I may be at the gym, I may be writing a new song.. usually though, I am answering all those people I called or messaged that morning!

I am most known for sharing my Christian faith at my shows, and also for my cowboy hat. I find it kind of hysterical that people don’t recognize me until I am on stage. For example, I am currently in our small town coffee shop playing the roll of the coffee drinking computer nerd and i’m sure folks think i’m a college student working on an essay when in reality, i’m writing up my entire life story for Voyage Raleigh Magazine, scheduling band rehearsal, making a social media post and booking 3 different shows! Haha, my life is so crazy but I love it!

One thing that I believe sets me apart is that I consider myself a “Country/ Christian” artist. I don’t even know if that’s a thing or not but it’s me. I love classic country music and I also love writing and singing about God! Some folks will often change who they are to become what the public wants and.. although it is my job to please the public, there is also a side of me that really doesn’t care what you think at all. In me, I have a little Jesus and I have a little Merle Haggard
“fightin’ side” as well. Knowing who I am and standing up for what I believe in is one thing that I think separates me from some.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
With a loving and happy home, I have so many good memories growing up. I could totally choose one that has a whole lot of meaning but instead, heres a random thing me and my brothers did when we were bored; maybe it’ll make someone out there smile just a little: One of my favorites might be sliding down the stairs of my house with my brothers. We used to take the laundry hampers from the laundry room, get inside them like a roller coaster train and push each other down the stairs as fast as we could. It didn’t always produce the prettiest results as we might be a little nose heavy at times, causing us to frontflip down the stairs right into the wall at the bottom.. Mom thought we were crazy but hey, we were! And as we grew older, our ideas grew bigger and better! We survived all our crazy ideas and now it’s just another good childhood memory for us to look back on!

God bless you all and thank you so much for taking the time to read about my music career, wild dreams and how God has worked through it all.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.Jordanpickettmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanpickettmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/ex3hrysxJxWFbpMw/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/_Jordanpickett
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsimwXvsBtiS4jUVKmHwb9A
• Other: https://linktr.ee/Jordanpickettmusic?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=ae846aa0-dc6b-4594-8179-dd707eaaf247