HARDY is one of the best things to happen to country music since the 90s.
Michael Hardy is one of the best modern songwriters to be in the Country Music scene, and he can sing too. While many people probably now
know him from his most recent album “The Mockingbird & the Crow” or as one of Morgan Wallen’s best friends, HARDY has actually been around for a while. He went to school at Middle Tennessee State University for songwriting and hasn’t looked back. While initially he was only a songwriter that wrote notable hits such as “God’s Country”, “Sand in my Boots”, and “Simple”, he saved his best songs for himself and began releasing his own music, and I’m sure glad he did. In 2018, he released an EP titled “This Ole Boy” that put him on the radar for some people in the Country scene/fandom. After this, he released the popular “HIXTAPE” volumes and a full solo album called “A ROCK”. To continue, he also began touring with people such as Jason Aldean. This, along with countless more number ones he wrote for others, took him to the next level.
Although the “HIXTAPE” volumes were not full fledge solo albums, I think those two projects were what really got people interested in him. He combined his killer song writing skills with artists who were popular and would captivate an audience. They also showed that he was a different type of artist. He showed how he could write about new topics (or even the classics) in clever and poetic ways that made you want to sing along or even rock out. He is an artist that die hard country fans, modern casual listeners, or even classic country fans can appreciate and listen to. The best thing HARDY has going for him is that he continues to always put out quality content. So frequently now, artists are going for quantity over quality which dilutes their music and basically waters it down. Sure, there will be some hits, but overall it is too much and too bland (more on this to come). HARDY knows what it takes to produce quality content and delivers every time.
He is also quite good at balancing different influences that appeal to him. He can cater to the die hard country listener with songs like “UNAPPOLOGETICALLY COUNTRY AS HELL” and “beer”, while also bringing to light more serious issues with songs such as “ONE BEER” and “wait in the truck”, and of course, we have to talk about his rock side. This side of him was apparent even before he released an album with half of the songs being rock. The second half of “The Mockingbird & the Crow” consists of rock songs, and they are just as good as the country hits he has written. Even though the genre changes, he still manages to keep in mind where he came from and what he is the best at: storytelling and connecting with others.
HARDY is one of the best things to happen to modern Country Music because he respects the genre, where it came from, how it has evolved, and what makes Country Music “country”. He calls it like it is and is unapologetically himself. He even has an entire song talking about how he’ll never sellout to anyone just to make more money or because it’s the cool thing to do. Country Music needs people like him who care about keeping Country “country” and are able to craft stories in a way that are hard hitting and easy to listen to while also evolving with the genre.
This was suppose to be a review of his latest album with a brief introduction of him, but clearly that didn’t pan out, so we’ll save the review for another post.
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