16 minutes | Saturday, 2 December 2023
'The CountryLine Songwriter Series', is where you'll hear from some of the most successful artists and songwriters working in Nashville today. Country music is all about storytelling and this is where you'll discover the stories from the people themselves of how they managed to find their way into such a competitive industry and rise to the top. What motivates and inspires them and what they've learnt along the way.
Hailing from Philadelphia, Mississippi, Hardy was born Michael Hardy. He headed to Nashville in the early 2010s with the intention of breaking into the country music industry. First, he attended Middle Tennessee State University as a student in their Recording Industry Management program; he wound up graduating with a degree in songwriting from the college. While he was studying, he self-released an EP called “Redneck Recipe”, in 2013; he also posted his songs to the Internet.
Hardy landed his first charting hit with "Up Down”, a song he co-wrote with Brad Clawson and CJ Solar. Morgan Wallen recorded it with the support of Florida Georgia Line, taking it to number one on the Billboard Country Airplay chart after its November 2017 release. Things began to happen swiftly for Hardy after that. FGL recorded "Simple" -- a tune Hardy wrote with the duo, along with Mark Holman.
“This Ole Boy”, Hardy's debut EP, was produced by Joey Moi -- the producer behind FGL's hits -- and was issued in October 2018. “Where to Find Me”, arrived on its heels in January 2019. September brought the release of “Hixtape, Vol. 1”, a country variation on a hip-hop mixtape featuring cameos by Cole Swindell, Morgan Wallen, and Thomas Rhett. "One Beer”, a single pulled from “Hixtape, Vol. 1”, featuring Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson, became Hardy's first Country Airplay single in 2020, leading to its appearance on “A Rock”, Hardy's debut full-length album. Arriving in September 2020, “A Rock”, also featured the hit "Give Heaven Some Hell”, which reached 11 on Country Airplay in 2021.
In 2021, Hardy appeared on the Dierks Bentley single "Beers on Me", and Brantley Gilbert's "The Worst Country Song of All Time". On his own, he released “Hixtape, Vol. 2”, and a cover of Puddle of Mudd's "Blurry”, telegraphing his move toward hard rock in 2022, a transition marked by the Billboard Hard Rock chart-topper "Sold Out”. Despite his rock success, Hardy also concentrated on the country market, reaching the Country Airplay Top Ten with the Lainey Wilson collaboration "Wait in the Truck”. He brought these two musical personalities together on the 2023 double album “The Mockingbird & the Crow”; the former represented his country side, the latter his rock personality. Upon its release, Hardy chatted with Stuart Banford.