Jordyn Mallory has country music in her roots and determination coursing through her. The 24 year old grew up in Okolona, Mississippi, a small town not far from the birthplace of Elvis, where she was surrounded by music from an early age. Her upbringing had much to do with why Jordyn grew up with her sights set on a career in music. As a young girl she spent a lot of time with her grandmother who often sang in church and introduced her to Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. At just five years old, Jordyn made her own singing debut in a church Christmas program and fell in love. The songstress says she “always knew” it was something she would eventually do once she finished up school. Luckily, Mallory completed high school a year early and made the bold move to Nashville on her own. Since then she’s continued songwriting, nailed a publishing deal, and opened for names like Loretta Lynn, Eric Church and Jake Owen. Most recently, Mallory released her self-titled EP this past May accompanied by her debut single, ‘Boat Friend.’
The fun and flirty single depicts that ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ lifestyle. You could think of it as the female version of a bro-country anthem – but Jordyn admits that wasn’t the plan when penning the tune. “I just wrote it from the standpoint of, hey, this is how girls feel about summer,” she said, “So it wasn’t really my intention, but it did turn out that way and, I mean, I’m not mad about it!” The inspiration for the song came from a moment the singer shared with her girlfriends a couple summers ago, “We were all in a Jeep on our way to the lake and one of the girls said, ‘Y’all, I really want to be single for the summer but we gotta find some guys with a boat!’ I immediately just said, ‘You don’t want a boyfriend, you want a boat friend!’ and everybody started laughing,” Jordyn recalled. She instantly saved a memo in her phone knowing this was a song she was going to write someday. Mallory brought the idea with her to numerous writing sessions but it wasn’t until about a year later when she sat down with Greg Becker and Mike Shimshack that the song finally took off. “They loved the idea and they were totally open to running with it and that’s what we did,” Jordyn explained that it all happened really fast, “I was just waiting for this summer so I can put it out.”
Along with the single’s release came a music video that made some of Jordyn’s dreams a reality. The ‘Boat Friend’ video premiered on CMT’s Artist Discovery campaign this past May and Mallory recalled the first time she saw it on tv. “My friends hooked us up with a free cabana at Wet Republic and there was a tv in there,” she explained, “So everyone else was in the pool and I was taking a break sitting in there. I looked up and the video was on and I just screamed!” The video, naturally, shows Jordyn and her friends partying and dancing atop a yacht, and even features wakeboard champion, Nathan Strange. Mallory had a blast filming but learned that making a music video isn’t always as glamorous as it seems. “It was soo cold!” she exclaimed, “The thing about making the whole summer video is you have to make it before summer.” The video was shot on April 9th at Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, Tennessee. “We started at 7:00 am and it was like 35-40 degrees… we had to rent these big heaters from Home Depot,” the singer explained. Jordyn also noted that everyone you see in the video is friends with her and she said they’re all troopers for braving the cold conditions. Although she admits she totally bribed them with pizza!
But there’s more to Jordyn than boats and parties, and her EP is proof of that. When choosing songs for the EP, the singer thought long and hard about which ones best represented her. “All of the songs are songs that I’ve written,” she explained, “You write songs that you love but maybe they aren’t just quite me, they weren’t quite Jordyn Mallory. I was raised in a really small town and at the end of the day I want to write songs that are,” she paused, “I call it the diary of a southern girl.” One of her favorites from the EP is ‘Southern Belle.’ The singer noted that the ballad is probably the most personal song she’s ever written. Mallory began writing songs when she was just nine years old and had been learning about poetry in school. “I don’t think I even realized what I was doing,” she said, “I just really never stopped. It’s been a huge part of my life.” Now she writes at least four days a week and draws inspiration from anywhere possible, from stories in books to things she finds on Pinterest.
Also adding to her busy schedule is the volunteer work Jordyn does with Musicians on Call. “Musicians on Call is an amazing organization! Basically they send musicians to hospitals and different facilities to sing for people,” explained the singer. Jordyn does her part once a month and raved about how special it is to her, “A lot of the patients are in there for a long time and you know, they’re bored, they’re sad. It’s such a cool thing to walk in there and see someone in tears because they’re so happy they have a visitor or the song has just moved them a certain way.” The singer also mentioned that Musicians on Call is a nation-wide organization with programs in other cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. “It’s really cool what they’re doing and I’m just happy to be a part of it,” she said.
Mallory already has quite the list of accomplishments, but there’s still a lot more the songstress would like to achieve, including spending more time on the road. “My next big goal is to start playing out more and get more shows… to just keep up the momentum that’s going on right now,” she said. Like many young artists, also on her list is playing legendary venues such as The Ryman and winning awards like an ACM or CMA, but what she wants most may surprise you. “My ultimate goal is to be on the cover of Cosmo,” she exclaimed. “I’m obsessed with Cosmo magazine! All the cover girls have done something really cool,” she said enthusiastically. But for now the singer enjoys just reading the magazine as she often does when she has down time. Although, Jordyn confessed she hasn’t done much of that this summer, “I guess I’m pretty lucky, I’ve made some good boat friends!” she laughed.
We can’t wait to hear more from this southern belle as she continues to thrive in the industry and grow her career. In the meantime, if you haven’t already, go check out Mallory’s EP and her single, ‘Boat Friend.’
You can purchase Jordyn’s EP on iTunes here.
You can follow Jordyn on Twitter, Facebook, and her official website.