HARDY‘s debut album, A Rock, is out! The 29-year-old co-wrote all 12 songs on the record — several since the start of the coronavirus pandemic — joining forces with hit writers like Ashley Gorley, Hillary Lindsey, David Garcia and more, to create a musical masterpiece expected of someone with decades of experience.

“I love saying this: a lot of people will hold 30 songs, and they will cull and cull and cull them until they have their record,” HARDY told Everything Nash. “Aside from ‘One Beer,’ since that’s on the record, we held 11 songs and we cut 11. So the selection process was really easy. We kind of cut as we go for the most part too, which was really easy, so there was not a lot of pressure on culling songs.

“That being said, before quarantine, we cut ‘Boyfriend,’ ‘Truck,’ ‘Give Heaven Some Hell’ and ‘Boots,'” he continued.  “And those were the four that I had on hold. We cut those four. And then right around the time that we cut those four, I wrote ‘Unapologetically Country as Hell,’ and I wrote ‘A Rock,’ so I held those.”

HARDY also wrote “One Beer,” with the remaining five all written and recorded during quarantine, and managed to finish the project by the beginning of May. The songs, which are an artful mix of rowdy, resilient and romantic, come largely from HARDY’s own life — including one story that actually happened to him, when he was, indeed, very broke, and not yet with his girlfriend, Caleigh.

“I pull from stuff that I’ve actually been through, and I think I embellish on some things,” HARDY admitted. “‘Broke Boy’ is a good example. It was a long time ago; I have Caleigh now,  and she’s amazing and she’s just perfect. But she doesn’t mind me telling this story. I was at Tin Roof with one of my best friends and my dad of all people. I think somebody was getting married or something, I can’t remember, but we all went to Tin Roof.”

At the time, HARDY hadn’t written any of the hit songs he is currently know for, like Blake Shelton’s “God’s Country” or Florida Georgia Line’s “Simple,” and had literally eight dollars in his bank account, when he decided to make the move on a girl he saw at the bar.

“I bought her a drink, and we sat there and talked, and we were hitting it off,” HARDY recounted. “And I knew that I did not have enough money to buy drinks all night. She was like, ‘I think I see my roommate. I’ll be back in a little bit. I’m going to go talk to her.’ And when she left, I left.”

“Hate Your Hometown” was also inspired by a very personal experience for HARDY. The song, which says in part, “I hope it looks like a ghost town / And you feel like a stranger / And you turn your car around … I hope you hate your hometown / And come back to me,” was boldly written about Caleigh, and his hope that she loved him more than her California hometown.

“‘Hate your Hometown’ hits the nail on the head,” HARDY acknowledged. “That song was about when Caleigh was graduating. That’s a very specific song. That’s not a universal idea at all. She had just graduated from Ole Miss and was going back to San Diego for a month. just to get some of her things. The plan was for her to move to Nashville. And I very selfishly thought to myself that I hope when you go back … I just hope you have a bad time, because it’s such a lovable place. I was like, ‘I don’t want you to go back after college and realize that you miss your home state.’ And so, that’s obviously very specific to the situation.”

A Rock might be HARDY’s first full-length project as a solo artist, after the release of his star-studded, collaborative Hixtape last September, but it’s only a taste of what country music fans can expect from the rising star.

“I represent myself, in what I have to say as an artist, more than anything I’ve ever done,” HARDY said. “Hixtape was great, and that is very much a part of who I am. And there are songs on this record that could have definitely qualified for a Hixtape song, but I think this is my true vulnerable, this is what I have to say. These are some of my life experiences that I’m talking about. I think this is my first real true big introduction to country music.”

Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson join HARDY on “One Beer,” while Ashland Craft joins him on “So Close.” A Rock is available for purchase at HARDY’s website.