Jordan Davis Talks CMA Awards, Crown Royal Charity Partnership (Exclusive)

Country music star Jordan Davis is on the cusp of a big night, as he gears up for the CMA Awards. Not only is his song "Next Thing You Know" nominated for three awards, but Davis will be performing the tune live. Additionally, Davis is also announcing his partnership with Crown Royal's That Deserves a Crown campaign, to benefit Bunker Labs, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting military veterans and military spouses in their entrepreneurial pursuits. 

Ahead of the big event, PopCulture.com had a chance to catch up with Davis to see how he's feeling, and get more details about his charity collaboration with Crown Royal. "That's the thing, you never expect that," Davis said when asked about his trio of CMA nominations. "There's so many amazing songs in country music, amazing singers, artists. To think that you're down to the last five on single song or video, it's truly an honor." Notably, "Next Thing You Know" is competing in the following categories: Single of the Year, Song of the Year, and Music Video of the Year.

Reflecting on his career and getting to this point, Davis said, "I just think back of moving to town in 2010, 2011, and all I wanted to do was make music for a living. You don't think, 'Oh, man. I want to be nominated for single or song of the year.' You just want to find a way to do this because you love it. So, fast-forward to 11 years and some, you truly realize how special and how difficult it is to put music out that touches that many people." He added that he's "just grateful for the CMAs for nominating me, and fingers crossed that we have a good night."

Davis is also very excited to perform "Next Thing You Know" live on the CMA stage, telling us, "I feel like I love all the projects I put out, but this is probably my favorite song I've ever put out. To get to play that on country's biggest night with so many people that I look up to and friends and family in the crowd, right here in my hometown in Nashville, it's going to be a really cool thing."

While CMA Awards night would already be a big enough event, Davis is taking things another step further and using the worldwide visibility to announce his new charity endeavor. "Crown Royal has been a huge supporter of the military for a long time," he told PopCulture, going on to note that he was thrilled "when they reached out to let me be a part of That Deserves a Crown campaign, the Purple Bag project, honoring Bunker Labs." Davis also showered praise on Bunker Labs CEO Blake Hogan, and share that he had a life-changing experience meeting "four veterans that Bunker Labs has helped."

"My cousin served and was a United States Marine, and both my grandparents served," Davis said, explaining why Bunker Labs' work is so close to his heart. "Anytime I get to shake their hand in person and say thank you, I take it, and I'm grateful to Crown Royal for giving me that opportunity." He added, "What's so cool about That Deserves a Crown, those are the veterans that go beyond just their service. It's like they signed up to do something that I wasn't brave enough to sign up and do."

"Then when that ended," he continued, "they came back and still serve and still help families and veteran-owned businesses, and not just veteran-owned businesses, but spouses of veteran-owned businesses. It's truly the most selfless thing that anybody can do. So, when you get around that many great people that are truly working to make this country even better, those are the people that you want to get face-to-face with, shake their hand, and say, 'Thank you.'" Tune into the CMA Awards live tonight at 8 p.m. EST, on ABC and local ABC stations.