Michael Hardy, known professionally as Hardy, is currently climbing the charts with his debut single, “Rednecker.” But you may recognize a few other tunes if you are heading to his Sirius XM: The Highway Finds Tour at House of Blues in Cleveland on Fri., Oct. 11.
Before his success as a singer, Hardy earned a reputation as one of Nashville’s hottest songwriters, having co-penned recent No. 1 singles “God’s Country” (Blake Shelton), “Simple” (Florida Georgia Line) and “Up Down” (Morgan Wallen). Hardy also had a hand in writing FGL’s “Talk You Out of It,” Chris Lane’s “I Don’t Know About You” and Blake Shelton’s latest single on the charts, “Hell Right.”
Hardy’s first cut came in 2017 when Tyler Farr released “I Should Go to Church Sometime.” While the song didn’t have much success on the charts, peaking at No. 56, Hardy told Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown that it was an “incredible feeling” that gave him the confidence to continue his craft.
“My first cut was ‘I Should Go to Church Sometime’ by Tyler Farr,” says Hardy. “It ended up being a single for like a month [laughing], but it was an incredible feeling getting a song cut because that was all that I ever wanted for forever—I just wanted a cut. And your goals change, but at that moment that’s all that I wanted. I was just like, ‘I got it! I finally got one!’ It’s hard to get songs cut in Nashville. It really is, so anyway, it was really cool. I went straight to the bar to celebrate [laughing]. Me and my friends and everybody went straight to the bar. Gosh, so much has changed since then too. That was a good time.”
The Philadelphia, Miss., native grew up listening to classic rock. So when fans hear the music from his four-song EP, This Ole Boy, they’re getting the real deal. The songs are bold and proud, the voice is commanding and the lyrics are centered on farms, in the backwoods and mostly in America’s heartland.
“I love that lifestyle, and that’s what I want to talk about,” he says unapologetically. “I’m not really a love song dude. If I’m going down that road, it’s a song like ‘This Ole Boy’ where it’s a redneck-in-love kind of thing. People that are like me, or people who still live in small towns, still love that and want to hear that. That’s why I’m who I am as an artist.”
Hardy will be performing on the Sirius XM: The Highway Finds Tour with special guests Hunter Phelps and Sean Stemaly on Friday, October 11 at the House of Blues in Cleveland. Doors open at 7pm and show starts at 8pm. Tickets are Sold Out.
