Laine Hardy Releases New Songs ‘Ground I Grew Up On’ And ‘Let There Be Country’

Surprise! New music from Laine Hardy has arrived!

Laine Hardy Releases New Songs ‘Ground I Grew Up On’ And ‘Let There Be Country’
Laine Hardy; Photo credit: Robby Klein

Laine Hardy treated fans to two new songs on Friday, April 10th, with the release of “Ground I Grew Up On” and “Let There Be Country.” Both tunes were produced by Michael Knox and were outside songs pitched to Hardy from other songwriters. The songs might as well have been written by Hardy himself though, as they embody exactly who he is and how he grew up.

“Ground I Grew Up On,” written by Brandon Kinney, Josh Thompson and Brett Beavers, finds the 2019 American Idol winner singing about his hometown, which might not seem that great to outsiders, but to him, it’s a place full of powerful memories. And as someone who grew up on the bayou in Livingston, Louisiana, this song could not ring more true for Hardy.

“When I started working with Michael Knox, we were trying to get songs together, and this song came along,” say Hardy in an exclusive interview with Sounds Like Nashville. “I heard it, and I was like, ‘Wow. This song really describes the ground I grew up on.’ It’s so relatable to me, and that’s why I like it so much. The first line of the song that says, ‘That ain’t just dirt.’ That speaks a lot of words right there.”

The song paints a vivid picture in the mind of the listener about the place Hardy is singing about, but he’s also giving fans a glimpse into the real-life scenes in his “Ground I Grew Up On” music video, which was filmed in his hometown.

“The song title, I thought on it, and I was like, ‘Why don’t we shoot this somewhere where I grew up so it’s real,’” says Hardy “It’s all real, it’s raw, it’s exactly who I am so my fans can see, in the video, how I grew up and maybe it’ll relate to them in some way.”

The other track, “Let There Be Country,” also gives fans an idea of who Hardy is at his core. The uptempo tune, written by Jason Afable, Steve Moakler and Tim Nichols, is a feel-good anthem about the country life set to country rock instrumentation complete with a slick electric guitar solo.

“I love that song a lot,” says Hardy. “It just talks about country and that’s just who I am. I love the country and I’m just a simple country boy.”

Since Hardy can’t be out on the road playing these new songs for fans due to the coronavirus, he is launching a “virtual tour” on April 10th, where he’ll be playing live on various social media accounts. Hardy performs on Sounds Like Nashville’s Facebook page on May 11.

“Trust me, I’d rather be out on the road playing to the fans, but this is what we’ve got to do, and I’m so happy to be able to connect to the fans in this way since we can’t go on the road,” he says.

Since taking home the crown on American Idol in 2019, Hardy has been a busy man, spending three months immediately after the show writing in Nashville and continuing to perfect his songwriting craft. The singer is currently gearing up for his full album and hopes to release even more new music to fans soon.

“I’m about to get back in the studio with Knox and work on some songs,” he says “Some of them are new songs I wrote with some other people, and I’m really excited about that because I’m ready for my fans to hear some songs that I’ve written.”