Hardy Hardy Hixtape: Vol.1 (LP)

(Big Loud Records) 10 tracks

The rising singer/songwriter delivers a surprising mixtape that again shows the power of his songwriting pen in the seventeen collaborating artists.

So the title is not a misprint, but short for hit and mix tape. And also the name of the artist should always be written in capital letters: HARDY even. For this the artist has renounced his first name Michael. HARDY first became known in Nashville as a songwriter, responsible for the top hits Up Down by Morgan Wallen and God's Country by Blake Shelton. HARDY also co-wrote Blanco Brown's current hit, The Git Up, which has been #1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs for ten weeks now. His first two EPs also included HARDY's debut on the country charts, the really funny track Rednecker, which still made it to #26. By the way, HARDY learned songwriting: he has a degree in it from Middle Tennessee State University, where he studied.

So now he has released a ten track project as Hixtape, Volume 1. He has managed something very special, already recognizable on the cover: he has been able to win 17 (!) colleagues to sing along, including greats like Keith Urban, Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett and his buddies Morgan Wallen and Devin Dawson. What's amazing and gratifying is that HARDY has also brought in older and more deserving singers: Tracy Lawrence, Trace Adkins and Joe Diffie. Only with the women he has held back: Only Lauren Alaina and the successful songwriter Hillary Lindsey sing on two songs.