HARDY is currently enjoying a Top 15 single with “wait in the truck,” his duet with Lainey Wilson. The song, which HARDY wrote with Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt and Renee Blair, is from his the mockingbird & The Crow album, out on January 20. Although HARDY has written songs for Blake Shelton, including Shelton’s No. 1 hit, “God’s Country” and his recent single, “Come Back As A Country Boy,” Hardy channeled Shelton for “wait in the truck,” and a song that helped shape Shelton’s career.
“Hunter and I came up with that title together one time,” HARDY recalls on Apple Music Country’s Today’s Country Radio wtih Kelleigh Bannen. “And we came across that idea; we brought it back up. I think it was Hunter was like, ‘Dude, why don’t we … try to make a murder ballad and that ‘Ole Red’ storytelling?’ And then, I don’t even remember the rest.
“The creative thing was just flowing, and it just all happened,” he continues. “And then, Renee actually did all the ‘have mercies’ and stuff, which became such a huge part of that song… I sang the girl part originally, and then, Renee came in and sang the demo, and then, Lainey of course, on the record.”
Once HARDY finished “wait in the truck,” he knew he wanted to record it, and he knew he wanted Wilson to join him on the track.
“We sat around and talked about other people and this person and that person and all that,” HARDY recalls. “But I don’t mean this out of any disrespect, but Lainey is that girl. She’s the most authentic. I believe her voice when she sings it, that it actually happened to her, which it didn’t, thankfully. But she just becomes that person, because she is authentically herself…. I wanted that song to move people and help people get through a hard time.
“And I knew that her voice was going to be the voice that makes people believe it, which makes people relate it to themselves more,” he adds. “And so, it was always Lainey.”
HARDY married his wife, Caleigh, in 2022. Although the “wait in the truck” story is, fortunately, fictitious, the Mississippi native did have a personal story that helped inspire the song.
“There was a guy that made a really big pass at Caleigh at a Halloween party,” HARDY recalled to Everything Nash and other outlets at a recent media event. “She told him she was happily [dating] at that time. The guy was pretty persistent. I was actually in Atlanta playing a show, but she told me about it and I got really fired up, and I made a comment about waiting the truck. Like, I wish I knew where he lived so I could tell Caleigh to wait in the truck.”
HARDY will spend part of next year serving as the opening act on Morgan Wallen‘s One Night At A Time World Tour, as well as headlining his own shows. Find music and tour dates at HardyOfficial.com.
