HARDY Talks Confidence and New Puddle of Mudd Cover on the ‘Pitch List’ Podcast

Country artist and songwriter HARDY joins the Pitch List podcast to talk about confidence, how he got his big break, his new cover song “Blurry” and more. 

Starting off as solely a songwriter, HARDY explains that it wasn’t until he received a surprise phone call from his “favorite producer ever” Joey Moi, that he seriously considered becoming an artist. 

“He was like, ‘Hey, this is Joey Moi and I don’t know what your plans are on being an artist, but I’ve heard your demos, and I’ve heard your songs. I just wanted you to know that if you ever wanted to cut a record, I would cut a record on you tomorrow if you really wanted to do it,’” HARDY told podcast host Chris Lindsey.

Sure enough, the pieces started falling into place with a record deal offered to him promptly after.

“Seth England (Big Loud Records) called me after that and was like, ‘Can we at least just offer you a record deal and let you look at it?’ And I was like ‘Sure.’ Next thing I know I’m negotiating a record deal and I just signed it and it all just kind of happened, I don’t even know how to explain it. My journey has been very very different from a lot of other people’s. I’m really thankful for it, but I never just never expected all this to happen to be honest. The songwriting side, yes, I fought really hard for that and I worked really hard towards that, but this? This is just different, man,” he said.

Despite HARDY’s unusual path to country music fame, one thing that he realized helped him get to where he is now, before the cuts and the big record deals, was an unwavering belief in his ability to eventually succeed in the world of songwriting. 

“I was not conscious of this ever, but I never assumed that it wasn’t gonna happen, if that makes sense,” HARDY said. “It just never occurred to me that it wouldn’t work out and I don’t mean that out of cockiness at all, truly. Once I got signed the pub deal, I never considered it not happening. And I think that kind of is what kept me just going to work and writing a song every single day and waiting for it to happen as opposed to being discouraged.”

Nowadays, the country artist is racking streams in the millions and his newest song “Blurry,” a cover of the 2001 rock hit by Puddle of Mudd, is sure to be no exception. 

“I love rock ’n’ roll so much. I want people to know that that’s a thing and even more so from my record, which already sounds halfway like a rock record. So I texted Joey and Seth England and I said, ‘Hey, I think I want to do a rock cover this year.’ And they were like, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘I think I want to do this.’ A few weeks later we went in and cut it and it’s just awesome man. I’m excited for people to hear it. I kind of turn on my rock ’n’ roll voice a little bit more and sing with a little more power and a little more range. And dude, it rocks,” HARDY concluded. 

Check out “Blurry” out now and the rest of the conservation with HARDY on the Pitch List podcast here.