Michael Hardy, known professionally as Hardy, announced that his new album, Hixtape Vol. 1, features 17 guest artists, including Keith Urban, Thomas Rhett, Dustin Lynch, Lauren Alaina, Tracy Lawrence, Trace Adkins and more.
“The more we kept asking people and taking chances . . . people kept saying ‘yes’ and it just became this really cool thing,” says Hardy. “80 percent of them are my friends. The spectrum is really broad. We have everyone from Devin Dawson to Joe Diffie, and everything in between. I think there’s something for every type of country fan on the record.”
The new album will drop on Sept. 13. Hardy’s debut single, “Rednecker,” is currently No. 28 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
Before his success as a singer, Hardy earned a rep 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 “Hell Right.”
Hixtape Vol. 1 Track List & Songwriters
- “Boy From the South” feat. Cole Swindell and Dustin Lynch (Matt Dragstrem, Michael Hardy and Brett Tyler
- “He Went to Jared” feat. Morgan Wallen (Michael Hardy, Chase McGill and Morgan Wallen)
- “Redneck Tendencies” feat. Trace Adkins and Joe Diffie (Michael Hardy, Brian Kelley, Ernest K. Smith and Ben Stennis)
- “Nothin’ Out Here” feat. Thomas Rhett (Michael Hardy, Ben Hayslip and Jimmy Yeary)
- “My Kinda Livin'” feat. Hunter Phelps and Jameson Rodgers (Michael Hardy, Cameron Montgomery and Hunter Phelps)
- “No Place Like Hometown” feat. Keith Urban and Hillary Lindsey (Michael Hardy, Mark Holman and Hillary Lindsey)
- “Something a Lil’ Stronger” feat. Mitchell Tenpenny and Jon Langston (Bart Butler, Michael Hardy, Jake Mitchell and Brett Tyler)
- “What They Make Backroads For” feat. Tracy Lawrence and Jake Owen (Michael Hardy, Jordan Schmidt and Josh Thompson)
- “Turn You Down” feat. Morgan Wallen and Zakk Wylde (Ben Burgess, Jacob Durrett, Michael Hardy and Morgan Wallen)
- “One Beer” feat. Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson (Michael Hardy, Hillary Lindsey and Jake Mitchell)
Listen to Hardy’s “He Went to Jared,” featuring Morgan Wallen.
photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com