NASHVILLE, TENN. – Topping off a week full of career highs, Big Loud genre-bender HARDY is celebrating sophomore album the mockingbird & THE CROW in a big way, earning a first week debut at #4 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart.
“Circling out into the stratosphere and beyond” (MusicRow), the mockingbird & THE CROW kings SEVEN additional Billboard charts this week, sitting atop their Top Album Sales, Top Country Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Current Album Sales, and Independent Albums charts.
“It’s just beyond every expectation that we ever had,” HARDY reacts. “To have the #1 album in both country and rock at the same time is so crazy and validating. I’m grateful to country and rock radio, our partners, everyone for embracing these songs and this record. Most of all, thank you to the fans for getting it and responding like this, it means the world to me.”
This week, get an exclusive inside look behind last week’s Los Angeles double header concert event when HARDY sits down with Entertainment Tonight‘s Cassie DiLaura at The Troubadour to chat all things album, newlywed life, his upcoming headline the mockingbird & THE CROW tour, and the one-night-only, two-stop showcase that launched a record week (check your local listings).
Listen to it HERE
CRITICAL PRAISE FOR the mockingbird & THE CROW
“It’s ambitious, messy, and more than a little audacious in concept, but not so heady that it couldn’t soundtrack a lively Saturday night among friends. But then, that’s Hardy in a nutshell: capable of writing the big hits for radio, obstinate enough to do something completely unexpected, and savvy enough to find the throughline for it all.” - Rolling Stone
“For Hardy, a rock-loving country star, shocking his audience in this way is exactly the point.” - SPIN
“norm-busting, unbridled 17-track set that finds HARDY in full, centered possession of his musical range.” - Billboard
“vivid storylines and honest lyrics...memorable vocals and ear-grabbing production.” - American Songwriter
“HARDY cracks the dirtiest little secret many on Music Row don’t want to acknowledge wide open.” - HITS
“HARDY makes a bold pledge for the rest of his country career on the mockingbird & THE CROW where he reclaims and re- hardens the term “country rock.” – Nashville Lifestyles
“In a genre that chases radio hits and big individual songs, HARDY has produced a concept album that blows the doors off everything that has gone before.” - Entertainment Focus
“He’s got one foot in the industry, trying to make country music, and he’s got another foot that wants to kick it all down and destroy it. It’s like he resents himself, even as he loves where he’s from. It’s that tension that always makes for great art.” - Grady Smith
“an absolute triumph.” - Rush On Rock
“the mockingbird & THE CROW is an important album, because when you listen, you’re not just listening to HARDY. You’re listening to the half a dozen other artists that he writes for, and you’re listening to an influential character that others in the industry attempt to emulate.” - Saving Country Music
“HARDY is breaking the mold.” - BeatRoute
