has made a name for himself as a singer and a songwriter, and now his brand new full-length album, A ROCK is available for country fans to dive into from the artist they know and love, with a little bit of a new side thrown in.
We caught up with HARDY over the phone before the album came out to talk about his songwriting and about releasing a record during the pandemic. And while it was cool to connect, we wish it could have been in person, and have started our plans to make for when he can be up here north of the border again. We also got HARDY to play his first round of 5 Quick Questions, so check that out a little further down in the post.
While we were on the call, we talked about the songs that came out in the pre-release of A ROCK and HARDY mentioned that the reception for them has been great, but the response to GIVE HEAVEN SOME HELL stands out. He said, "I get stories all the time and it's hard to read, it really is. But it means that it's touching people that people are truly resonating with the song which is all that I want."
I followed up by asking about being a songwriter and getting those reactions, asking if it hits him as a songwriter and if it's the kind of stuff that makes him feel like he's doing the right thing. He replied, "Awards and stuff like that are great and being nominated and stuff but the meat and potatoes behind why you do it comes from the people that you're doing it for. So when you get that recognition and you hear the stories about the song made 'em cry, or it got 'em through a breakup, or it's got 'em through losing somebody, that's all that I could ever ask for at the end of the day."
Listen to GIVE HEAVEN SOME HELL now!
HARDY - GIVE HEAVEN SOME HELL
It's a tough thing to have to ask an artist who is releasing new music to the world (because it should be a very happy time), but I asked HARDY about the feeling of releasing A ROCK in the times and setting we're in right now. He was super optimistic (which I loved), saying, "It's still the same to me. I think that people are listening to music more than ever right now. And I think I'm still gonna get the same reaction no matter what as far as like people listening to it, so I'm good."
And if the reception that he talked about for ONE BEER, BOYFRIEND, BOOTS, TRUCK, and GIVE HEAVEN SOME HELL continues with the rest of the 12 song album, HARDY's going to be in for some smiles and happy feelings starting today.
At 42 minutes, A ROCK is a full listen, and entire album of music from an artist who is at the top of his songwriting game with fun ones, emotions, and great features from Lauren Alaina, Devin Dawson, and Ashland Craft thrown in. On our call, HARDY mentioned the heavier subject matter in some of the songs, and with the early returns being positive, we should all know now (including him) that he can do the fun party jams as well as the heart-touching country songs that fans can attach themselves too.
One of my very favourite songs on the album is BOYFRIEND. I think part of the reason is that I didn't see it coming from HARDY when I first gave it a listen before the album drop. It's sweet and written with a twist. It's the kind of song someone is going to hear and then think about proposing to their partner when it's over. It's got that extra layer of songwriting in that it isn't straight forward in the storytelling, but is still here for me to learn all the words and sing along to.
HARDY - BOYFRIEND
When we were talking about the pandemic and releasing the album, HARDY said, "I do wish we could tour it, but there's a silver lining in that you know maybe by the time we get to play a show people will know this music from top to bottom so it'll make the first time that we as a band play 'em live really exciting 'cause people might know it more than we think since they've had a lot of time to listen to it."
This is an idea that's been in my head for months. There are some great songs and albums that fans have learned and started to love that nobody has heard live yet, and when they can, when we're back to some sort of normal, whenever that is and it's safe, the vibe is going to be electric and I hope the singing in the crowd is louder and clearer than ever before. I love this silver lining mentality, as hard as it can be to hold onto sometimes.
Near the end of the call, I asked HARDY if there was anything else he wanted to share about the album and he dropped a cool note on the making of A ROCK saying, "I wrote 12 songs, I put on hold 12 songs, and I cut 12 songs. So it was just so intuitive but so sure of every single thing that we cut that I think it reassures that the record top to bottom is a good record because we didn't overthink anything we knew that every song that I wrote and put on hold we were going to cut, and I think that's a cool little fact about the record. " I was surprised by that one. We've heard stories from all kinds of artists about needing to choose songs from a list of 50 or 100 when making an album. So for a songwriter like HARDY to go into this process knowing that these were the songs and stories that were going to make up the album is impressive for sure, and in my opinion, he did good.
Before we wrap, hit play on HARDY's round of 5 Quick Questions to find out which venue he'd love to play, which artists are still at the top of his dream collaboration list, who he thinks you should be listening to and more.
5 Quick Questions with HARDY
Thanks again to HARDY for the time and for playing along. Check out the full tracklist for A ROCK and hit play on the stream to give the new album a listen now!
HARDY, A Rock Tracklist
