Hardy Brings His Raucous Style of Country, Metal to Monticello, IA

It sounds cliché, but when Hardy's first single went to country radio back in 2019, I had a great feeling he was going to be a big star.

Hardy's debut single "Rednecker" immediately showed the Missouri-born singer-songwriter was a cut above his contemporaries. With a degree in songwriting from Middle Tennessee State, Hardy understands linguistical concepts such as alliteration and assonance (the English major in me is always delighted by his writing abilities). His music reflects such. But to get a full grasp on Hardy's talents, you need to see him live, and the Great Jones County Fair in Monticello, IA provided the perfect opportunity for some-18,000+.

READ MORE: Lainey Wilson Takes Iowa for a Ride at the Great Jones County Fair

Before Hardy took the stage a little after 9pm on Saturday, July 19th, rising singer-songwriter John Morgan made his presence known. If his name sounds familiar, Morgan opened for Riley Green at Q Casino + Resort's Back Waters Stage last year. The 29-year-old singer performed songs he wrote for other artists, including Jason Aldean's "Trouble with a Heartbreak," as well as his highest charting single at this time, "Friends Like That (also featuring Aldean).

In recent years, Hardy has made the smooth segue into hard rock/metal music, not unlike Hank Williams III. His album The Mockingbird & the Crow was indicative of his dualities: a smart, clever songwriter in the country space and a loud, unapologetic rock-star in the metal space.

In concert, Hardy converges both sounds beautifully. His show is loud, personal, and brought to life with pyrotechnics, smoke machines, and delightful stage business from the hard-partying 34-year-old. To begin, he launched into "JIM BOB," one of the singles off his latest (rock) album Quit!! The song concerns a pill-popping redneck veteran who lives by his own rules. There's a tinge of sadness in the song's lyrics, but between the hell-fire red lights, horror-show background, and the doomy guitars and instrumentals, you probably wouldn't have noticed.

The start of Hardy's show featured a lot of his heavier material, including "KILL SH!T TILL I DIE" — where you get a taste of Hardy's proclivity for assonance in lines like "you won't find me strapped for backstraps, cryin' at the crashing NASDAQ" — "BOOTS," and "HAPPY HOUR."

After about 30 minutes, Hardy switches gears to his country side, which isn't a soft side, as any fan knows. Even his soulful "Give Heaven Some Hell," about paying tribute to a rugged, fallen loved one, begs you to sing along arena rock style (and the crowd at Great Jones certainly obliged). His song, "A ROCK," the titular track on his debut album, threads the commonality of a "rock" through multiple points in someone's life, from skipping stones on a pond, to giving one's significant other "a rock" to put on her finger, to our eventual tombstones.

After seeing Lainey Wilson perform at the Great Jones County Fair in 2024, I was primed to hear Hardy sing their duet, "Wait in the Truck." Wilson's presence was felt in spirit, as the large video-board behind Hardy showed her singing her respective verses, adding dimension to what is already an instantly memorable song.

I was surprised to hear "Rednecker" and "TRUCK BED" in the middle of the show. Both songs are known-by-heart to Hardy's fans, and could've easily made for riveting encore material. Instead, Hardy gave his fans a worthy trifecta to conclude the show...

Upon returning to the stage after the faux ending to the show, Hardy launched into "SOLD OUT," which might be my favorite by him. The song was his full-blown entry into rock back in 2022, and it's about how he has achieved success without sacrificing himself. It's a pure anthem. I was worried I'd lose my voice scream-singing it, which is something I don't often do at concerts. I make an exception for songs that mean a lot to me.

Hardy slowed it down a little bit to follow that one up, and proceeded to cover "God's Country," the Blake Shelton song he co-wrote that, along with his work with Florida Georgia Line, led him to becoming a made-man in the songwriting landscape of Nashville. Finally, he concluded things with "The Mockingbird & the Crow," which shows his multi-dimensional musical personality and gave way to more than a dozen final blasts of fire and smoke before the Great Jones County Fair launched their trademark fireworks. End scene. Masterful.

Read more about Hardy on his official website.