HARDY Says Miranda Lambert Inspired Him To Record ‘Dog Years’ 12 Years After Writing It

HARDY recently shared another look into his next album, COUNTRY! COUNTRY!, with the emotional track “Dog Years.” Written back in 2013, the song stayed unreleased for years, and it wasn’t until HARDY had the chance to perform it with Miranda Lambert that he finally decided to bring it to life.

While speaking with Audacy’s Katie Neal, HARDY explained that “Dog Years” evolved from the pain he felt from losing his childhood dog. It was a solo write that chronicles a moment he will “never forget.”

“I had probably gone a solid six or seven years without crying…I’ll go through phases, but a long time. And I remembered I went home for dear season over the holidays, and I knew that my dog was getting old, and when it was cold, they’d let him sleep in the front part of the hallway next to where the laundry room was because he was an outside dog,” he explained. “And I laid with him one night and I fell asleep and I woke up at five in the morning and went and got in the bed, and then I slept a couple more hours and I drove back to Nashville and my dad called me the next morning and he had passed away. So that was the first time that I had cried in seven or eight years.”

“It was really sad…I had him from a child to an adult, that entire, very important part of my life. So yeah, God, his name was Nugget. So that one’s for Nugget,” HARDY added.

The emotions that stirred up inside him after hearing that heartbreaking news led the country rocker to pen a detailed story about a dog finding his forever family and ended up having “the best life I could ask for.” The best part about this story, that listeners will realize in the chorus, is that it’s told from the four-legged pet’s perspective.

“Dog Years” turned out to be a really special song for HARDY. Not only did it honor his childhood dog’s memory and the strong bond they shared, but it also earned him his first publishing deal. He explained that a relative of his, Dennis Matkosky, who works as a publisher and songwriter in Nashville took him under his wing and helped him make this next leap in his career. HARDY would play him songs and while most of them weren’t quite up to par, “Dog Years,” turned out to be the track he needed to seal the deal.

“I was playing him songs I was writing, and he kept telling me, ‘they’re good, but they’re not good enough for me to take this to a publishing company yet and be like, I want to sign this guy,’” HARDY recalled. “He was like, just keep taking some time and write and write and write and write. And I did. And finally, I wrote ‘Dog Years’ in 2013, right after I graduated from college…so that song got me my first publishing deal, which was a joint deal with Kobalt, and it was really special song.”

Even though the song earned him the deal, HARDY admits he never recorded it. It sad untouched until last year. During that time, he tried pitching the song around, and it nearly made its way to Miranda Lambert, but the track proved too emotional for her, given her deep love for animals.

“A few years ago, Miranda hit me up and she was like, ‘this dog your song?’ And I was like, ‘yeah.’ And she was like, ‘I would cut it, but I would never be able to sing it. I would cry.’ Cause you know how much she’s an animal lover. And I was like, screw that. Cut my song, please,” HARDY joked.

@hardy #DogYears @Miranda Lambert @MuttNation #HARDY #MirandaLambert #MuttNation ♬ original sound – HARDY

Lambert didn’t record the song, but HARDY gives her credit for giving him the boost to finally record it after all these years.

“Last year she had her…MuttNation event at Ascend and she called me and asked me if I would sing ‘Dog Years’ and have her sing harmonies. And I was just like, ‘yeah, sure.’ And that was kind of the moment that I was like, okay, this is cool and I need to give this song a chance.”

“Dog Years” was the latest track to be released from his brand new album, COUNTRY! COUNTRY!, set to arrive Friday, Sept. 26 via Big Loud. The project also includes previous releases including “Favorite Country Song,” “Bro Country (feat. ERNEST),” “Luckiest Man Alive,” and more.