Michael Hardy has written hits for some of country music’s biggest stars, like Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line and even Morgan Wallen. But as Hardy, he’s done alright for himself. Penning both country and rock songs for his second album, The Mockingbird and the Crow that was released in January.

Hardy first caught my ears with the release of the first single, “Jack” and I remember thinking, “who is this dude” and while searching the internet being slightly stunned to find out he was a country guy. But “Jack” proved to be quite the fueled-up fist pumper on rock radio. So I dug in to the rest of the album.

The Mockingbird and the Crow boasts an impressive 17-song track list and at least five of those, punch thru the country label and into the world of rock. Hardy’s latest single, “Sold Out” is one of those songs. Think less obnoxious, old school Kid Rock, before he became a pretentious country wanna be singer shooting up beer cans in his back yard.

 

While Hardy roars that he has not “sold out”, he has been selling out shows everywhere he goes, which prompted the Mississippi native who now calls Nashville home, to book three shows at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville in late October. You can check the details on the concert calendar. I’m willing to bet that those will go down as more of a rock show than a country one.