Family First: How Jordan Davis Turned a Louisiana Songwriting Legacy Into a Nashville Career

Jordan Davis did not arrive in Nashville with a plan. He arrived with a brother who had one, and that turned out to be enough.

A Family Where Music Was Always the Business

Jordan Carl Wheeler Davis was born on March 30, 1988, in Shreveport, Louisiana, the younger of two brothers in a household where music was not just background noise. His father Ricky played seventies singer-songwriter records around the house. His mother Luwanna played piano in church. And his uncle, Stan Paul Davis, had already proven that someone from their family could make a real living in Nashville by doing nothing but writing songs.

Stan Paul Davis wrote Tracy Lawrence's "Today's Lonely Fool" in 1992 and followed it five years later with "Better Man, Better Off," which climbed to number two on the country charts in 1997. For the Davis boys growing up in Shreveport, their uncle was living proof that the dream was not crazy. "We had the rare opportunity to hear those songs at our grandmother's house on acoustic guitar, before it was a hit," Jordan's brother Jacob later recalled. "He was making a great living making things up. How cool is that?"

The effect that had on both brothers was profound and practical. When the time came for Jordan and Jacob to tell their parents they were moving to Nashville to become songwriters, Uncle Stan had already softened the ground. "Our mom is musical, she played piano in church," Jordan has said. "So I feel like having Uncle Stan up here and him being successful kind of softened the blow."

The Long Road Through Baton Rouge

Jordan was not the first Davis brother to head north to Nashville. Jacob made the move first, which gave Jordan both a blueprint and a push. Jordan took the slower route, earning a degree in environmental science from Louisiana State University before working briefly as an analyst and a consultant. Music was always the plan underneath it, but he finished the degree his parents wanted him to finish first.

Jacob was the one who finally convinced him to pack up for Nashville in 2012. "He encouraged me to move to Nashville," Jordan has said simply. "So I did." He arrived in Music City with his college degree, no record deal, and a willingness to do whatever it took to stay in the game. For the next several years, he bartended at a local restaurant while spending his days writing songs in Nashville's publishing rooms, learning the craft that his uncle had quietly modeled for him his whole life.

He landed a publishing deal in 2015. MCA Nashville signed him on Leap Day 2016, which felt like the kind of detail that belongs in a country song. His debut single "Singles You Up," released in 2017, became a four-times Platinum smash that introduced him to radio audiences across the country and served notice that another Davis was in town.

The Career That Built Itself

What followed was one of the steadiest ascents in modern country music. "Take It From Me" went to number one. "Almost Maybes" followed. "Buy Dirt," a collaboration with Luke Bryan that Jordan co-wrote with his brother Jacob and two other writers, became a CMA Song of the Year winner and one of the defining country songs of 2021. "Next Thing You Know" topped the charts. So did "What My World Spins Around." Five number one singles. A Grand Ole Opry membership. A growing arena-level touring operation. All of it built the same way his uncle built a career in the nineties. One song at a time, written from the inside out.

The Wife and the Four Kids

Jordan met his wife Kristen O'Connor at a holiday party in Nashville while he was still bartending for a living. They married in 2017, the same year his debut single was released, which means his personal and professional life launched at almost exactly the same moment. They have since welcomed four children: daughter Eloise in 2019, son Locklan in 2021, son Elijah in 2023, and daughter Sadie in 2025. He and Kristen are now raising four children under seven years old while Jordan headlines arenas and writes songs that co-star his brother's name in the credits.

Stan Paul Davis wrote Tracy Lawrence hits in the nineties. Jacob Davis co-writes Jordan Davis hits today. Some families just have it in the blood. Read Jordan's full bio on our website.