HARDY has officially entered his Rock era with the announcement of his very first Rock album coming soon. While excited to fully step into a new genre, the Mississippi native — who got his start as a Country songwriter — promises fans he’ll never abandon Country music.

“I fully want to balance being a Rock ’n Roll artist and a Country artist at the same time,” he told Audacy’s Katie Neal during his recent appearance on the Superstar Power Hour. “I don’t even really know what that means yet, but I love Country music, I will never abandon it or leave it. I always want to make Country songs, I’m just kind of discovering myself and I’ve realized that maybe I do have a bit of a knack for the Rock ’N Roll thing, so I’m just chasing that to see how far it goes right now. Country is coming back, don’t worry.”

HARDY’s Country roots run deep and it’s apparent with his newest HIXTAPE project honoring the late Joe Diffie. DIFFTAPE, available March 29, was previewed at the 2023 CMA Awards as HARDY took the stage with Morgan Wallen and Post Malone to perform “Pickup Man,” the first song to be released from the album. Keeping the tracklist a secret until the release on March 29, HARDY promised some worth-the-wait features.

“It’s by far the biggest star-studded feature list ever. I can’t even tell you — you have no idea. It’s the coolest thing in the world,” he said before detailing the approach. “It’s Joe’s original recordings of his biggest hits and a couple maybe no-so-big hits, but great songs. Joey [Moi] my producer, has the tracks… and we’ve kept all the instrumentation the same and brought in all of either Joe’s friends or, well, everybody. Everybody is on this record and it is so cool.”

Following the DIFFTAPE release, the focus will turn to Rock for HARDY, who says he’s been hard at work on his Rock album that will feature previously released songs “QUIT!!” and “Rockstar.”

“Writing Rock songs is a lot easier than writing a Country song — there’s fewer rules,” he said when asked about the differences in the creative process. “Not that there’s rules, rules, but if you’re tryna write a Country hit, there are rules. That’s no discredit to all the Rock writers and bands out there — writing a song is not as easy as people think it is, but it just is more free [in Rock]. The lyrics don’t have to all tie into this one hook.”

With the new album comes a fresh tour from HARDY, who will hit the road this spring beginning with a show May 30 in Rogers, AR. With a total of 15 dates, fans may notice a major cutback on the amount of shows, which the 33-year-old says is intentional.

“I cut my touring in half this year — I wanted to be home more and feel maybe more like a human,” he disclosed. “I love touring, but it got to a point for me where it was too much… This overload of attention three or four days out of the week and then to come back and try to feel normal and be normal — there’s just a weight that it put on me… the way that I’m wired, it just took a toll on me.”

For more information on his headlining tour, the new album, DIFFTAPE and much more check out HARDY’s full conversation with Audacy’s Katie Neal above.

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Katie Neal