You really can’t beat an old Brad Paisley track.
Regardless of your thoughts on his output as a whole, it’s becoming increasingly clear that HARDY has become one of the most interesting figures in all of Nashville over the years. As an artist, he’s experienced some great success, recently scoring a #1 on country radio with “Favorite Country Song.” Additionally, he’s scored #1 hits with the likes of 2020’s “ONE BEER” (feat. Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson) and 2023’s “TRUCK BED.” Of course, that’s not even mentioning sleeper hits such as the Lainey Wilson collaboration, “wait in the truck,” and other Top 40 tracks, “Rednecker” and “GIVE HEAVEN SOME HELL.”
Though his success as a solo artist shouldn’t be ignored, it’s fairly safe to say that HARDY has scored the most success in his career as a songwriter. At this point, the Mississippi native is best-known for being a frequent collaborator with Morgan Wallen, penning hits such as “Up Down,” “Sand in My Boots,” “More Than My Hometown,” “7 Summers” and “I’m A Little Crazy.”
Beyond Wallen, however, he’s also written a plethora of other smash hits for other country artists, ranging from Florida Georgia Line’s “Simple,” Chris Lane’s infamous “I Don’t Know About You” and Cole Swindell’s “Single Saturday Night” to Blake Shelton’s “God’s Country,” Cody Johnson’s “How Do You Sleep At Night?” and Post Malone and Luke Combs’ “Missin’ You Like This.”
Given how much success he’s had in the genre at this point, you’d assume that the Mississippi native has always been a fan of country music from a young age. As it turns out, however, that’s simply not the case.
In a recent appearance on the Broken Record Podcast, HARDY would admit that country music didn’t appeal to him as a teenager. In particular, he’d explain how he felt like tracks from Brooks & Dunn and other artists felt too “adult” at the time.
“Late ’90s, early 2000s. It just didn’t appeal to me. I’ve never been in a bar, you know. It was either that or it appealed more to adults back then, I feel the subject matter. It just didn’t resonate with me. Brooks & Dunn, who now I go back and I’m like, ‘This music is awesome.’ But as a 16-year-old kid, I don’t know anything about ‘Boot Scootin’ Boogie.’ I’ve never swing danced or whatever that song is about.”
The “McArthur” singer would go on to explain that it wasn’t until he heard Brad Paisley’s tongue-in-cheek smash hit from 2002, “I’m Gonna Miss Her,” that the genre fully clicked for him.
“Not until Brad Paisley has [‘I’m Gonna Miss Her’]… I’m like, ‘That’s some sh*t I would do.’ You know what I mean? Especially as a teenager. That’s when I started getting into country. It was just when it started. The lyrics got a little more clever, and it just appealed to people that grew up country. I feel like that was not a thing in the ’90s. There wasn’t a lot of ‘Country Boy Can Survive’ type stuff in the ’90s.
While I definitely would have to disagree with the statement that there weren’t a lot of songs appealing to your standard “country” demographic, given that George Strait, Alan Jackson, Reba and more were making music that undoubtedly appealed to essentially all types of fans in the genre, I really can’t blame the fact that Paisley was the stepping stone for him. Love him or hate him nowadays, Brad was the complete package as a songwriter, guitarist and artist back in the 2000s, and “I’m Gonna Miss Her” remains a perfect example of him in his sweet spot.
Watch the full podcast here:
HARDY Tour Dates
May 28 – Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio – Blossom Music Center ~*
May 29 – Darien Center, New York – Darien Lake Amphitheater ~*
May 30 – Bethel, New York – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts ~*
June 4 – Rogers, Arkansas – Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion °*
June 5 – St. Louis, Missouri – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater °*
June 6 – Noblesville, Indiana – Ruoff Music Center °*
June 11 – Columbia, Maryland – Merriweather Post Pavilion ~*
June 12 – Virginia Beach, Virginia – Veterans United Home Loans ~*
June 13 – Raleigh, North Carolina – Costal Credit Union Music Park ~*
June 25 – Gilford, New Hampshire – BankNH Pavilion #*
June 26 – Mansfield, Massachusetts – Xfinity Center #*
June 27 – Camden, New Jersey – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion #*
August 20 – Lubbock, Texas – Cooks Garage =*
August 21 – New Braunfels, Texas – Whitewater Amphitheater *
° – Cameron Whitcomb
* – McCoy Moore
x – Mitchell Tenpenny
~ – Tucker Wetmore
# – Muscadine Bloodline
= – Jake Worthington
