Hardy Rocks ‘Quit!!’ Album Listening Party at the El Mocambo in Toronto [Photos]

Singer-songwriter superstar Hardy was in Toronto this past week for a couple of shows. One was an intimate album listening party at the legendary El Mocambo club, and later that night a completely sold-out show at Budweiser Stage. The listening party saw a couple of hundred lucky fans and industry people get treated to hearing a few songs from Hardy’s upcoming brand new rock album Quit!!.  The album is due out on July 12th. Canadian music guru Alan Cross from the A Journal of Musical Things podcast hosted the event. Hardy was joined onstage by record producer/audio engineer/songwriter Joey Moi. Moi collaborated with Hardy on the new album.

Hardy is a chameleon when trying to attach a genre to him. Starting out as a primarily country artist a few years ago, he still had an underlying crunch to his material. Country-flavoured lyrics with a bit of the Seattle grunge scene bubbling just under the surface. Hardy and Moi discussed their shared love for heavier music and mentioned Soundgarden as one of their influences. Hardy decided that this new album would take cues from that in-your-face guitar and vocal style and put it front and center. This is surely a rock album. But again, Hardy has successfully woven the country vibe fans know and love into this genre-busting release.

“Jim Bob” was the first track debuted. A story about so many souls out there stuck in a substance abuse, alcohol, opioid, dead-end rinse and repeat life. Hardy is unapologetic in his vocal delivery on this album. When he’s serenading softly, he nails it. And when he’s growling it out at 11 he equally delivers the punishing goods.

“Happy Hour” was described by Cross as a “sad drinking song in a major key.” A definite juxtaposition from some of the formulaic weepy country songs out there. “They call it happy hour when everybody in here is sad.”

“Soul 4 Sale” features a collaboration with Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. Described as a Hail Mary pass when asking Durst if he was down to add his stamp on the song, Hardy was shocked that Durst agreed almost immediately. Durst was given free rein to “do whatever you want with it.” And the first pass-through was the keeper. The song is a power ballad with that zing that Fred Durst adds to everything he touches.

“Good Girl Phase” features Red Hot Chili Peppers kick-ass drummer Chad Smith. Cross mentioned that this was his favourite track on the album. And he suggested that it could be the “big hit” of the summer.  Smith stood tall on this one as he does on everything he’s involved with. Hardy mentioned that it’s the story of a guy and his girlfriend, with his friends trying to warn him about her. “She’s a bad bad girl, she’s just going through a good girl phase.”

“Six Feet Under (Caleigh’s Song).” Hardy’s tour bus was involved in a serious accident back in 2022. His perspective on life changed immediately after the accident. And he wrote this love song for his long-time girlfriend, Caleigh Ryan. They married a couple of months later. The song was written from the perspective of him not surviving the accident and how painful it would have been for her.

Hardy spent some time discussing his career and how grateful he was to his carefully built team. And that who he surrounds himself with makes him who he is. Working with multiple Billboard Top 100 producer Moi is a perfect example of this. Hardy seems to have cracked the code of bringing the two genres together in a big way.

Cross asked Hardy about performing the harder new material along with the older country tracks. Hardy said he’d given it a lot of thought and songs like “One Beer” and “Rednecker” not be played right up against something like “Rockstar.” But it’s also a work in progress and seeing the audience reactions will go a long way to how the setlists are crafted.

Check out Hardy on the “Quit!!” North American Tour 2024.

Hardy – Quit!! Album Listening Party @ El Mocambo (Toronto, ON) on June 6, 2024

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