Scotty Hasting is back with new music. The Purple Heart recipient just released “Scars,” a powerful song that he wrote with Daniel Ethridge and Cole Phillips.

“It actually came from a conversation that I had with the two guys that I wrote that song,” Hasting tells Everything Nash.. “We were sitting in the room, and I was like, ‘Man, I wanna do something.’ I grew up listening to all these outlaw country singers, and I was like, ‘Man, I wanna do something that’s like outlawish, but still fun. But just more of the rock edgy stuff.’ We kind of went into the write thinking that, and then we started talking about me getting shot and the scars that were left behind from getting shot. That’s physical and emotional, and stuff that I still deal with on a daily basis. And then we talked about, at one point in time, I had wrecked a motorcycle that I had, and we talked about all these different scars that I have accumulated throughout the years. That’s how the song started materializing itself while we were there.

“It was a very easy write,” he adds. “Because it was literally just talking about the scars that I had earned, and what’s left.”

“Scars” is a bit of a new sound for Hasting, which he says is what fans will hear more of on his next record.

“I grew up listening to Southern Rock, outlaw country, that style, and it just fits well with my story,” Hasting hints. “It fits well with my voice. With the band, it’s a very comfortable place for us to be. It works well, and it’s songs and music styles that I love to sing. So this is the new direction. This is where we need to be headed into the more country. rock stuff. And ‘Scars’ was just the initial step into it after ‘Fortunate Son.'”

Hasting had a much different career planned for his life. He wanted to retire from the Army, plans that were derailed when he was shot ten times while serving in Afghanistan in 2011. Hasting had plenty of reasons to become angry or bitter at how drastically his life changed from what he envisioned, but he found hope and optimism amid his challenging circumstances, which he now wants to pass on to others.

“I feel like the goal is the same as it’s always been: for someone to hear my music, or to see me up on stage and for it to mean enough to them that it helps them in some way, shape or form,” Hasting says. “I mean, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what direction we move sound-wise. All that matters is that someone hears me, or sees me up on stage, and it helps them in some way, shape or form. I still want people to see me up there, and for them to think, ‘Well, I mean, if he can do this, there’s nothing I can’t do.’  I never thought this would be my life. I never thought music would be the thing. And I hope that even with this direction that we’re moving, I hope that the songs or my story touch somebody enough to where it helps in some way, shape or form.”

Find “Scars” and all of Hasting’s music and upcoming shows at ScottyHasting.com.