The sound is big. The towns are small. And the name is HARDY. Named 2022 BMI Songwriter of The Year. Relative Music Group’s Writer HARDY grew up on classic rock in Philadelphia, Mississippi.

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HARDY moved to Nashville to pursue the elusive art of matching words with chords and melodies, and 2018 became a breakthrough year for him. He was one of three writers on the Morgan Wallen/Florida Georgia Line collaboration “Up Down,” a #1 platinum-selling country single built on HARDY’s original idea: “We live it up down here.” He snagged another hit as a co-writer of FGL’s “Simple.” And he took part in one of Blake Shelton's biggest singles, "God's Country". He has also helped penned #1 songs for Morgan Wallen (Sand In My Boots), Cole Swindell (Single Saturday Night) and Chris Lane (I Don't Know About You).

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HARDY attended Middle Tennessee State University and majored in songwriting. HARDY periodically posted performances of his own songs on social media, and his relative – Dennis Matkosky, first cousin to HARDY’s grandfather – reached out. Matkosky was an established songwriter, known for Michael Sembello’s “Maniac,” Keith Urban’s “You’ll Think Of Me” and LeAnn Rimes’ “I Need You.”

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Matkosky liked HARDY’s work, and within a few months, he signed HARDY to his own independent publishing company. Flash forward to present day, and HARDY is one of the most prominent voices and most prolific songwriters in country music.