00:00T.C. and Dina B inside the Hard Rock Artist Lounge.
00:06We are here with Hardy.
00:07Now, Mr. Hardy, two years ago you were here sitting with us
00:10and having a good time.
00:11Now you're back, but you're back as a dad.
00:14Daddy life.
00:15As someone who's got a little girl that just runs around like crazy.
00:18When that moment happened for me, life was just different.
00:21There was no words to explain,
00:23but I've never been on the road my whole life.
00:25I've never been a rock star.
00:27How is Hardy life different now that you have a little one?
00:31I mean, there's two different things.
00:33One, if she's on the road, I mean, it's just day-to-day life is very different.
00:38No piercing Morgan's ear and things like that?
00:42No, there's not as much of that going on.
00:44And now, yeah, definitely, even when she's not on the road,
00:47I think a little bit more about how much we party on the road
00:50because I come back and my wife is not literally, but she's just like,
00:54here you go.
00:55You know what I mean?
00:56And no, but on a real note, it's just different.
00:59I mean, everything is just everything, every decision that you make
01:02revolves around having a child now.
01:04Yeah.
01:05And it's from as small as do I have time to go to the bathroom
01:08to like how many shows should I play next year
01:11and everything in between.
01:12It's crazy.
01:13Did you ever think you were dressed up as the cowardly lion?
01:15For my wife and my daughter?
01:20Yes.
01:21Prior to Callie?
01:22Hell no.
01:24After her?
01:25Yeah, for sure.
01:26But prior to that?
01:27Absolutely not.
01:28But I enjoyed it.
01:29Honestly, I'm a huge Wizard of Oz fan.
01:32So it was my honor.
01:34And I like the line.
01:35It was always the line.
01:36It was never the scare.
01:37I would have never been the scarecrow or the Tin Man.
01:39So yeah, it worked out.
01:40It was super cute.
01:41I loved it.
01:42The line of tours next year.
01:43Some dates have already dropped for you.
01:45I know you're going to be joining Morgan again on a couple of those stadium shows.
01:49Yeah, we're doing Ann Arbor at the big house.
01:52And then we're doing Minneapolis.
01:55Minneapolis.
01:56But when it comes to, like you said, planning your tour now.
01:58Is it, because I'm sure before it used to be you got your label, your whole team together.
02:02But now is the wife chiming in a little bit more saying, hey, why don't we take a little bit more time?
02:07No, no, no.
02:08It's really, it's not her.
02:09I mean, that is all me.
02:10Okay.
02:11No, she's like, do your thing, whatever you feel like you need to do.
02:16But it's, you know, I, to be candid, probably three, two, about two and a half years ago, I hit a wall with touring because we were gigging so hard for so long.
02:25And so for the last couple of years, I've played a little less than 40 shows, which is very light.
02:32And that was 100% my own decision.
02:36I was just, you know, and I have, I have kind of my songwriting job in town, and I wanted to get back into that a little bit.
02:43And anyway, but all that being said, next year, 56, 54, something like that, I'm doing a lot again.
02:50All right, we're going back.
02:51So I'm sure I'll be tired this time next year.
02:52But, but no, I mean, it's, that was 100% sort of a self care, self mental, mental health check decision to sort of pump the brakes on that a little bit.
03:00So songwriting, obviously, I mean, you write some killer songs.
03:03We all know that.
03:05I have to tell you dog years.
03:06Oh, my gosh.
03:08So I'm going through with my two older senior dogs.
03:11And you literally dropped that song.
03:13I'm sitting on my couch with them.
03:14And I'm like, damn, you already.
03:16But it was so I mean, everyone can relate to that song.
03:21It's beautiful.
03:22And I actually thank you for it.
03:25That song changed my life.
03:26And it's one of the few songs I don't.
03:29I would say probably 5% of the songs I write come from, I don't know, maybe, maybe more.
03:34But this 5% of the serious songs come from like personal experience, I guess.
03:38But that one, I wrote that song shortly after my like, longtime 15 year childhood dog died.
03:44I was probably 21, 20 or 21 when he when he died.
03:49And I'd gone home, I was still in college.
03:52I'd gone home for Christmas.
03:54And I knew that when I when I left, like I wasn't going to see him again.
03:58And they we let him into his outside dog.
04:00Yeah.
04:01And we let him in because it was really cold that night.
04:03And I remember he would sleep right by the wash our utility room in there.
04:09And I was leaving the next morning and I went in there and I laid down with him.
04:12And I just, you know, and I fell asleep and I woke up at like 5 a.m.
04:15I just laid on his on the floor with him and fell asleep.
04:18And I got up and got my stuff and drove back to Nashville.
04:22And my dad called me like the next day or two days after and said that he died.
04:25And anyway, that's so that's that one came from a very that one came from the heart.
04:28So I appreciate that.
04:29And I'm sorry that your dogs are getting old.
04:30That sucks.
04:31It's a it's tough.
04:32I know it is.
04:33And my childhood dog was Nugget.
04:35Are you serious?
04:36I swear to God.
04:37That is insane.
04:38I know.
04:39I know.
04:40I know.
04:41So I was crying even more.
04:42We're the only two people in America who have dogs named Nugget.
04:44I know.
04:45It's crazy.
04:46It's really crazy.
04:47Well, speaking of your amazing songwriting, got a little game we want to play with you right
04:51now.
04:52And this is where it comes.
04:53I'm sure you've seen this before.
04:54This is blind ranking hearty songs either just written by you or written and recorded
04:59by you.
05:00How many slots do I have?
05:01Five slots you have here.
05:02All right.
05:03So if you're ready to play, we have our official unofficial intern, JD, keeping tabs here on where
05:07we're going to go.
05:08All right.
05:09Song number one.
05:10God's country.
05:11You got to rank up one through five.
05:14Three.
05:15All right.
05:16Three.
05:17Number two.
05:18Give heaven some hell.
05:19One.
05:20Wow.
05:21All right.
05:22The one spot is gone.
05:23All right.
05:24Song number three.
05:25More than my hometown.
05:26Oh, no.
05:27I'm actually going to go two.
05:31Okay.
05:32So one, two and three are gone.
05:33Okay.
05:34It's probably my favorite outside song I've ever written.
05:36Okay.
05:37What's the next song?
05:38One beer.
05:39Five.
05:40All right.
05:41And last?
05:42Truck bed.
05:43Four.
05:44That's perfect.
05:45I can live with that.
05:46Are you happy with that list?
05:47Absolutely.
05:48Absolutely.
05:49I'm so excited about that.
05:50Well, you nailed it, buddy.
05:51Awesome.
05:52Give heaven some hell, though, man.
05:53I mean.
05:54No, I just, that song is, I mean, it is, you know, I mean, it's, it's done more that and
06:00weight in the truck.
06:01But really, I mean, give heaven some hell is just such a, what that song is about is such
06:06a common occurrence.
06:07Yeah.
06:08And it just, I mean, I know it's five, that song is five years old now.
06:11And it's still just all the time, messages and people in public.
06:15Yeah.
06:16And it just, I'm happy to have, have provided any, just small to big, any kind of like healing
06:23for anybody that's going through that.
06:24Yeah.
06:25So that song means a lot.
06:26Yeah.
06:27Number one, for sure.
06:28Number one.
06:29Yeah, there we go.
06:30Hardy, we always love leaving our show this way.
06:31We always love asking, normally it's listeners, but since we have you here, besides just playing
06:34a big show tonight and everything, what's something good going on in your life?
06:37That one thing you can't stop smiling about, we call it an amen.
06:40What is yours?
06:41Deer season, baby.
06:42There it is.
06:43Yeah.
06:44Yeah.
06:45Happy deer season.
06:46All right.
06:47We'll get you up on stage so you can get done playing and then go to deer season.
06:50We are Hardy with Hardy inside the Hard Rock Artist Lounge at TC and Dina B.
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