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Nashville: This week’s Nashville Pick is from country artist Jonathan Hampton with his single “His Daddy Farms”. The Southern Illinois singer-songwriter transforms a childhood scene, personal loss and a second chance at music into an honest country song rooted in the land.
Some country songs begin with a clever title or a melody that refuses to go away. “His Daddy Farms” began with the smell of freshly turned dirt and a childhood memory that never left him.
Hampton remembers rushing off the school bus and heading straight for the swing set behind his family’s home. From there, he would watch a tractor disk the neighboring field while his mother prepared supper and washed dishes at the kitchen window. His father was not a farmer, but the sights, sounds and unmistakable smell of the soil became permanently connected to home.
Years later, Hampton would gain his own experience working on a farm during high school. The memories stayed with him, eventually becoming the foundation for “His Daddy Farms,” an original song written and performed by Hampton and released in 2025. The three-minute country single is now available through major streaming services.
The road to releasing the song was not a direct one. After losing his father to cancer and his mother to ALS, Hampton stepped away from music. The grief changed his priorities, and for a time, the songs went quiet.
Then came the COVID shutdown.
Like many musicians searching for connection during an isolating period, Hampton began posting performances online for family and friends. What started simply as sharing music on Facebook gradually developed into a dedicated music page—and eventually into the independent recording career he has today.
“His Daddy Farms” was recorded at Velocity Recording Studio in Marion, Illinois, with producer and engineer Brian Martinez. Hampton chose to keep the project close to home by working with local musicians, giving the recording a genuine Southern Illinois foundation. Martinez describes his production approach as being centered on strong storytelling, emotional movement and arrangements that support the meaning of a song—an especially natural fit for Hampton’s memory-driven style of country music.
The accompanying music video also helped Hampton’s music reach a wider hometown audience. Following its release, WJBD/WSIQ invited him into its Salem, Illinois, studio for an interview and live performance. The station later shared video of Hampton performing in the WSIQ studios, while Hampton has described receiving that invitation as one of the most memorable moments of his emerging recording career.
“His Daddy Farms” has since become part of a growing catalog that includes “What’s A Cowboy,” written with Hampton’s son in mind, and “This Just Feels Right,” featuring Alexandra Martinez and, “Don’t Ever Give Up”. Jonathan’s soon to be released “White Lines And Heaven” featuring Miranda Willmore is being released Friday July 17th. His songs reflect an artist who writes from lived experience—family, rural life, perseverance and the people who continue to shape him.
For Hampton, country music is not an image borrowed from somewhere else. It comes from school-bus rides, tractors in the distance, a mother standing at the kitchen window and the smell of dirt rising from a freshly worked field.
“His Daddy Farms” may have taken years to become a song, but its heart was planted long ago.
Jonathan Hampton Music
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