Summary

In this episode from 2015, we sit down with T. Hardy Morris, best known as the frontman of Dead Confederate, to talk about how his music has evolved and what went into making his latest album, Drowning on a Mountaintop.

Hardy opens up about the creative process behind the record, including how he’s been experimenting with different sounds, like blending pedal steel into a rock setting, and how that’s shaped the feel of the album.

We also talk about the collaborative nature of his work. He shares stories from his time with the supergroup Diamond Rugs and reflects on the strong musical relationships he’s built over the years.

Throughout the conversation, Hardy gets into how his lyrics and music come together, usually in a pretty natural, unforced way. His songwriting leans into both his country roots and the raw edge of grunge, and Drowning on a Mountaintop really shows that mix.

If you're curious about how genre lines blur, or how an artist stays grounded while constantly growing, this episode gives a great look into Hardy’s creative world.

Show Notes

In this episode, we catch up with T. Hardy Morris to talk about his latest solo album, Drowning on a Mountaintop, and the path that’s led him here.

• Hardy, known for his work with Dead Confederate and the supergroup Diamond Rugs, shares stories from his early days growing up in Augusta, Georgia. Those early community experiences helped shape his creative outlook.
• We talk about how his sound has evolved over time, landing in a space that blends rock and country in a way that feels both fresh and familiar.
• The conversation takes a closer look at the making of Drowning on a Mountaintop, including how working with producer Adam Landry helped shape the album’s tone and texture.
• Hardy opens up about his songwriting process, especially how lyrics and music come together naturally for him, with an emphasis on honesty and emotional impact.
• Whether you’re a longtime fan or just discovering his solo work, this episode offers a real look into Hardy’s creative world and what drives him as an artist.

Links

• T Hardy Morris
• T Hardy Morris on Bandcamp
• You may also enjoy our conversation with Folk Family Revival
• After you buy music or see a show, we'd love your support with a few bucks in our Tip Jar
• Sloane Spencer now hosts a Gen X sleep podcast, Sleep with Rock Stars

Chapters

• 00:08 - Introducing T. Hardy Morris and His New Album
• 03:03 - The Evolution of Sound: Collaborating with Adam Landry
• 08:25 - Exploring the Intersection of Country and Grunge
• 12:57 - New Connections in Music
• 14:29 - Transition to New Music Ventures

Takeaways

• Hardy talks about his new album, Drowning on a Mountaintop, which brings together a mix of rock and country influences in a way that feels fresh but grounded in tradition.
• He shares how his songwriting tends to evolve naturally, and how experimenting with pedal steel helped shape the album’s sound.
• Collaboration plays a big role in his creative process. Hardy talks about working with other artists and especially highlights the impact producer Adam Landry had on this project.
• There's an interesting conversation about the link between grunge and southern rock. Hardy points out that both genres have a rural quality that people don’t always recognize.
• He gives a quick update on what's next, including touring plans and some recording time with Dead Confederate. The band isn’t done yet, just taking things slow.
• The episode wraps up with a real talk about how tough it can be to connect with audiences in today’s crowded music world. Hardy reflects on the challenges of staying visible without losing authenticity.

Mentioned in this Episode

• Danger Bird Records
• Diamond Rugs
• Dead Confederate
• Reverb Nation
• Drive By Trucker
• Meat Puppets
• Justin Collins
• Delta Spirit
• Deer Tick
• Chase Park

Recommended If You Like

Country Fried Rock, T. Hardy Morris interview, Dead Confederate, Diamond Rugs supergroup, Drowning on a Mountaintop album, Danger Bird Records, indie rock podcast, southern rock music, pedal steel guitar, songwriting process, Americana music, music collaborations, grunge and country fusion, Athens music scene, music production, lyrical songwriting, vinyl records, music industry insights, emerging artists, country music podcasts

Transcript

Speaker A

00:00:00.160 - 00:00:23.360

Welcome to Country Fried Rock. This week we're talking with T. Hardy Morris, frontman for Dead Confederate, as well as part of the Diamond Rugs indie rock supergroup.

Morris is also known for his solo work with a brand new album out from T. Hardy Morris and the hard knocks called Drowning on a Mountaintop, out now on Danger Bird Records. You're listening to Country Fried Rock and I'm your host, Sloane Spencer.

Speaker B

00:00:23.360 - 00:00:24.400

Where are you now?

Speaker C

00:00:24.640 - 00:00:25.760

I still live in essence.

Speaker B

00:00:25.760 - 00:00:27.440

But you're originally from Augusta.

Speaker C

00:00:27.780 - 00:00:38.180

Yep, that's where I was born and raised. Down. Down. Well, just outside of Augusta.

But yeah, essentially we used to float the river and we would moon everybody as they went across the icewinning bridge.

Speaker B

00:00:38.340 - 00:00:45.780

You're a pretty busy guy with not just solo projects, but some band things as well. What has led to this most recent album that just came out?

Speaker C

00:00:46.180 - 00:01:29.240

Kind of a natural progression of things. I'd made a solo record a couple years ago and kind of did a little more slowed down acoustic. Yeah. Songs that I had. And I just. I don't know.

My friend Matt Stoessel, who plays pedal steel, we had kind of explored a little bit.

I'm a big fan of the pedal steel and the way it works within songs and I just wasn't quite through exploring the pedal steel and the ways it could work within the songs that I write. So we took it a step further and kind of did more of a rock and roll version. You know, just see what came about.

And down on the mountaintops where we wound up kind of bummed our Dead Confederate drummer. And so that took it to a place where it had to be a little more heavy handed and it was a lot of fun.

Speaker B

00:01:29.320 - 00:01:37.080

I noticed in the background we are unintentionally having an Adam Landry year on Country Fried Rock. Was your connection to him via Diamond Rugs?

Speaker C

00:01:37.640 - 00:02:27.260

Yes, exactly. First met Adam when we.

When we did the first Diamond Rugs record, we just kind of spoke the same language in the way we learned, like to create music and just recordings in general. Just kind of the same ethos as far as recording and just kind of letting it happen.

And he's got a good ear to kind of help us sift through the songs, you know, because I'll come in with a lot of stuff, a lot of ideas and we kind of can focus on certain ones and he's just easy to work with for me and the way I like to work. This one we did actually in Athens.

We wound up mixing a little bit over at his place in Nashville, but we recorded it here At a studio called Chase Park. Had a lot of good records come out. I was expecting my daughter essentially any day, so we kind of had to. Had to record it here. Proximity.

Speaker B

00:02:27.500 - 00:02:28.540

Congratulations.

Speaker C

00:02:29.100 - 00:02:44.240

Thanks. I've done a little bit of touring since she came. You know, even that had to slow down a good bit. You know, shoot out and do a few and come home.

Nothing too extensive. There's a lot of dates, but it's. You know, they're not all just back to back, three months at a time or whatever like I used to do.

Speaker B

00:02:44.480 - 00:02:48.080

With so many different projects going on, how do you filter songs?

Speaker C

00:02:48.800 - 00:03:01.600

Usually I just kind of know right off the bat. It just has the feel of where it should wind up. Every once in a while, they'll cross paths, but for the most part, it's all in my head.

I don't really know how to explain it, but I can just kind of tell where it needs to wind up.

Speaker B

00:03:01.680 - 00:03:03.560

We were saying originally there's some changes.

Speaker A

00:03:03.560 - 00:03:05.880

From the sound of audition tapes to.

Speaker B

00:03:05.880 - 00:03:15.080

This record with Drowning on a Mountaintop. And it's not just instrumentation. How do those come about for you? You kind of hinted that perhaps they developed a bit with Adam Landry.

Speaker C

00:03:15.480 - 00:04:19.240

We had done.

When we did the first Diamond Ruggs record, there was a song called Country Mile that kind of had this heavier verse, kind of stone and rock verse, and then it veered off, and the chorus was country. I called it the country part.

And then there was another song called Share the Needle on audition tapes that kind of had that same push and pull between the verse and chorus. And Adam and I were just. We were talking after. After a show one night.

We were kind of like, what do a whole record that's like that, you know, that has that. That kind of push and pull throughout it and kind of really exploit that idea. Because a lot of people seemed really drawn to those songs.

You know, they didn't seem as crazy to me, but other people were like, oh, that's crazy how that happened, you know, And I was like, oh, well, people seem to like that. Let's just try to go for it. So, yeah, just kind of went with that idea. I mean, we don't. It's not. Doesn't happen on. On every single song.

And we didn't try to force it. It kind of works for the way I write the stuff I like and for my vibe. I think it worked out pretty good.

Speaker A

00:04:19.240 - 00:04:19.640

Hey, y'.

Speaker C

00:04:19.640 - 00:04:19.720

All.

Speaker A

00:04:19.720 - 00:04:58.700

This is Sloan Spencer, the host of Country Fried Rock. We've had an incredible year with more people finding us on the radio. And our podcast than we ever imagined. Thank you all so much.

Careful what you wish for.

You just might like to send a big thank you to our Country Fried Rock listeners for supporting Country Fried Rock alum Alan Thompson, who is recovering from a diving accident.

If you'd like to donate Every Dollar Matters and it goes directly to helping defray his bills, you can find that link on Country Fried Rock's Facebook or Twitter. It's a you caring donation page. Keep your ears peeled for a few different benefit shows in the Nashville area for Alan Thompson.

Speaker B

00:04:58.700 - 00:04:59.540

We love you, man.

Speaker A

00:04:59.540 - 00:05:00.460

Get better soon.

Speaker C

00:05:00.770 - 00:05:03.410

Hey, this is Pete Hardy Morris on Country Frad Rock.

Speaker B

00:05:03.410 - 00:05:10.050

You can listen to this record and miss some of what you're saying, and then you hear it, like the third or fourth time, you're like, holy cow.

Speaker A

00:05:10.050 - 00:05:11.170

That'S a great line.

Speaker B

00:05:11.730 - 00:05:14.210

A lyrical versus music contrast as well.

Speaker C

00:05:14.930 - 00:05:43.380

Lyrically, the album, a lot of it is. I don't know, I write a lot of stuff pretty quickly when I'm writing the lyrics. So a lot of times I don't even.

I don't know exactly what I said until after I hear it back, and I'm like, oh, that was kind of pointed or whatnot. But yeah, and especially that. That stuff happened.

That album happened kind of fast, the writing of it, because I went in with a lot of ideas lyrically. Yeah. Song by song and just kind of finishing them on the fly. Some of them were.

Speaker B

00:05:43.380 - 00:05:45.900

They always fleshed out before you got into Chase Park.

Speaker C

00:05:46.540 - 00:06:14.500

Pretty close. I mean, I was still writing some lyrics as we got into Chase park, but I think that's fine. That that works for me. Just kind of the way my brain is.

I've always been a little add, so I don't know. And sometimes. And I don't think that a lot of those lines you're speaking of or I'm talking about would really come about.

If I sat down alone with my pen and, you know, tried to labor over it. It might sound a little labored or might sound a little dramatic. You just speak what's on your mind. Sometimes it makes more sense.

Speaker B

00:06:14.660 - 00:06:17.380

Was there some time between completion and release?

Speaker C

00:06:18.260 - 00:06:52.000

Yeah, there was. There was a little bit, I guess.

We were done recording a year ago, and then we spent a little bit of time mixing it kind of sat for a little bit while the baby was born, and then I was home doing that whole thing, learning how to change diapers and all that stuff.

And then we got around to mixing, and that even took a little bit longer because we wound up going back over to Adams and doing a couple things just because we had to mix it so fast. Everybody just was busy. We mixed it and then we had a couple more things we wanted to do, so we fixed those over in Nashville and then finally done.

Speaker B

00:06:52.000 - 00:06:53.660

Who else else was able to help.

Speaker A

00:06:53.660 - 00:06:55.300

You fill out the sound you wanted?

Speaker C

00:06:56.180 - 00:07:15.460

Vaughn Lamb is who plays bass on the record and plays bass in the Hard Knocks. He's a local Athens bass player. He's played with, you know, a lot of bands around here, but I just like his style and vibes.

He's kind of got this noodley hippie punk thing going on that I like. Kind of fits what we're doing.

Speaker A

00:07:15.460 - 00:08:00.670

Hey y', all, this is Sloane Spencer, the host of Country Fried Rock. Those of y' all who listen on our podcasts, it's a quick hit of just the conversation.

If you want the full radio program with all the songs that we talk about, ask for it on your local radio station, joining 20 other stations across the country. Get the goods@country friedrock.org hey y', all, Country Fried Rock has a few cool new things going on that we've been teasing for a while.

Pop on by countryfriedrock.com scroll down on the right hand side of the screen or just keep on scrolling if you're on mobile. Down at the bottom, we're doing a quick listener survey. Find out a little more about what y' all want as we plan now for 2016.

I know it seems so far away, but actually we've already got a very cool thing up our sleeves that will be happening while I'm in Nashville next month.

Speaker B

00:08:00.750 - 00:08:01.070

So.

Speaker A

00:08:01.070 - 00:08:10.190

Looking forward to that. Speaking of which, lots of Country Fried Rock alums are going to be playing Americana Fest in September and we'll be hanging out that week.

Come on by and say hello.

Speaker C

00:08:10.830 - 00:08:13.630

Hey, this is T. Hardy Morris. Get more info at T.

Speaker B

00:08:15.880 - 00:08:21.800

What kind of stuff was speaking to you? Because there's, you can hear a lot of different things going on in the different songs on this record.

Speaker A

00:08:21.880 - 00:08:22.680

Specifically.

Speaker B

00:08:22.760 - 00:08:24.600

I got a little Nirvana on some of it.

Speaker C

00:08:25.240 - 00:09:51.110

Oh yeah, that was one of the things I was trying to convey with the record is, you know, you don't really think of, of like country music or, or Southern rock and grunge really sitting hand in hand. But to me, they're, they're not that really that far off. They're both kind of come from a rural sounding place to me.

You know, I don't know, just sounds like what I, that's what I grew up on. But I think they're a little Closer fit than a lot of people give them credit for. Especially like southern rock and grunge music.

What the real early versions of grunge music, you know, those are.

A lot of those bands were from out in the middle of nowhere, you know, kind of coming up with these ideas in the garage and southern rock with, you know, just these wood shedding out in the middle of nowhere in the. In the South. I don't know, they're just both kind of rural.

So I thought that the pedal steel and that country sound works a little better than you might think with the heavy handed side of grunge. Yeah, the Meat Puppets kind of. Kind of did that. They always had had a country vibe going on, kind of country punk. So there's definitely. And I've.

I've toured with those guys before and we've talked music a good bit. They're kind of buddies and I mean it's a little. A lot of the albums are a little more heavy handed than Meat Puppets. But I kind of.

They're often a band that I kind of have a touchstone in the studio that I kind of. When I hear Becca's song, I'm like, I wonder if Kurt and Chris would like this song. I'm like, yeah, I think they would.

Speaker B

00:09:51.110 - 00:09:54.510

There's a particular song I want to ask about. Who is the other voice on?

Speaker A

00:09:54.510 - 00:09:56.070

It's either quiet or quieter.

Speaker C

00:09:56.630 - 00:10:13.290

That's Justin. Who? Justin Collins, who's was the other producer on the record. Justin co produces a lot of stuff with Adam.

He did audition tapes and the Diamond Rug stuff. He's also a musician, singer, songwriter over in Nashville. His stuff's awesome. It's really good.

Speaker B

00:10:13.610 - 00:10:16.730

How have some of those relationships come around for who you get to go on tour with?

Speaker C

00:10:17.130 - 00:10:57.760

Well, you know, I've known the Drive By Trucker guys for a long time. From Day Confederate touring with them. They took us to the west coast. The first time we ever toured on the west coast.

We just always have kept in touch. Patterson and I specifically. He's been kind of a good proponent of my stuff, solo stuff and decofederate and so yeah, it's just.

I don't know, I feel like we're the band that when they just have to go do some one off shows, they're always like, hey, you want to come play? That's just local connection. You know, they.

They live here...