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Country Music Hits You Didn’t Know Were Written by Hardy: From Morgan Wallen to Blake Shelton

Michael Hardy – or Hardy – as he’s known professionally, is taking on the country music charts by storm with his debut single Rednecker. Rednecker, along with Hardy’s two other charted singles, One Beer and Some Things Never Change are quickly becoming a part of the country music landscape. However, despite these being Hardy’s debut moments in front of the mic, the country music artist has been a major part of the Nashville music scene for quite some time. Hardy has penned some of country music’s most memorable songs for big names such as Morgan Wallen and Blake Shelton.

The Philadelphia, Mississippi native has certainly made a name for himself as a singer among the unparalleled Nashville music circuit. However, he is not at all new to the game. Before finding incredible success as a singer, Hardy had earned himself the reputation as being one of Nashville’s most sought-after songwriters. He’s written some of today’s most well-known country music songs – some of which we never would have guessed!

Hit Country Songs Written by Hardy

  • “Still Goin’ Down” – Morgan Wallen (written by Morgan Wallen, Charlie Handsome, Hardy)
  • “Livin’ the Dream” – Morgan Wallen (written by Hardy, Morgan Wallen, Ben Burgess, Jacob Durrett)
  • “Beer Don’t” – Morgan Wallen (written by Morgan Wallen, Hardy, Ryan Vojtesak)
  • “Sand in My Boots” – Morgan Wallen (written by Hardy, Ashley Gorley, Josh Osborne)
  • “Sittin Pretty” – Florida Georgia Line (written by Hardy, Nick Donley, Jake Mitchell)
  • “Talk You Out of it” – Florida Georgia Line (written by Hardy, Hunter Phelps, Jameson Rodgers, Alysa Vanderheym)
  • “People Are Different” – Florida Georgia Line (written by Hardy, Mark Holman, Hillary Lindsey)
  • “Single Saturday Night” – Cole Swindell (written by Ashley Gorley, Hardy, Mark Holman)
  • “God’s Country” – Blake Shelton (written by Jordan Schmidt, Devin Dawson, Hardy)
  • “Hell Right” – Blake Shelton (written by Hardy, David Garcia, Brett Tyler)
  • “I Don’t Know About You” – Chris Lane (written by Ashley Gorley, Hardy, Hunter Phelps, Jameson Rodgers)

A Big Move Leads To Some Big Opportunities

Hardy says he wrote his first song at the age of 17 for the reason most 17-year-old boys would write a song – to impress a girl. According to Hardy, this led to him writing many songs that he refers to as “John Mayer-sounding” originals. However, it was when his older sister, a student at Nashville’s Belmont University, suggested that he move to Nashville that he fully set out down the road that would lead to Hardy’s massive success in the industry.

“If it wasn’t for her, I would’ve never known there was a whole industry behind [songwriting],” Hardy has said of his sister. “I learned there were more songwriters than there were artists on the radio.”

Hardy’s Talents Led To Some Major Country Music Hits

It took the songwriter a few years to find his footing within Nashville’s music circuit. However, success was just over the horizon. With some well-timed connections and some good-old-fashioned hard work, Hardy connected with some of country music’s biggest names.

And, over the years, he lent his talent to some of these big names in country music. Penning some of the genre’s biggest hits over the last few years. Among these hits are Blake Shelton’s “God’s Country”, Florida Georgia Line’s Simple, and Morgan Wallen’s hit “Up Down.”

The country music artist also lent his talents to create Florida Georgia Line’s hit “Talk You Out of It.” This hit currently sits on top of the charts at number one. Hardy also helped pen Chris Lane’s “Don’t Know About You” which currently sits in the number 14 spot on the music charts.

Hardy Remembers the ‘Incredible Feeling’ That Came From Writing His First Country Music Single

It was the 2017 Tyler Farr song “I Should Go to Church Sometime” that got the singer and songwriter into the music writing business. The song didn’t experience the great success that Hardy’s other songs would later generate. “I Should Go to Church Sometime” peaked at number six on the music charts.

However, hestill remembers the incredible feeling that the experience brought the singer and songwriter. And, the singer/songwriter says in a discussion with American Country Countdown, this experience gave him the confidence boost he needed to continue creating memorable melodies.

“My first cut was ‘I Should Go to Church Sometime’ by Tyler Farr,” Hardy remembers.

“It ended up being a single for like a month,” he laughs. “But it was an incredible feeling getting a song cut because that was all that I ever wanted for forever—I just wanted a cut.”

Hardy went on to note that many people have goals that change over time. However, he was so focused on finding songwriting success in Nashville, those other goals hardly even entered the country music artist’s mind during this time.

“Your goals change,” Hardy explains. “But at that moment that’s all that I wanted.”

‘So Much Has Changed Since Then’

The country music star adds that with talent abound, making the Music City a hub to country music, having a song cut in Nashville isn’t an easy task. But, the singer says, he finally made it happen.

“I was just like, ‘I got it! I finally got one!’” Hardy remembers.

“It’s hard to get songs cut in Nashville,” he adds. “It really is.”

The long-haired and bespectacled country music artist goes on to remember the night of celebration that came after this long-awaited moment. And, Hardy says, a good time was had by all.

“I went straight to the bar to celebrate,” the country music singer laughs.

“Me and my friends and everybody went straight to the bar,” he adds. “Gosh, so much has changed since then too. That was a good time.”