Florida Georgia Line are back. After years of the country world dissecting and picking apart the FGL-pioneered Bro-Country wave, any qualms and hang-ups about that much-maligned period of time seemed to dissipate as we watched Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley join forces once again on the Nissan Stadium stage at CMA Fest.

Suddenly, we all felt the urge to turn our caps backwards, cut the sleeves off our favourite t-shirt and sing, “Baby, you a song...” on repeat. So what does this all mean? Is the era of Bro-Country back? HARDY - one of the pivotal figures in the emergence of the Bro-Country phenomenon - says yes, even though his song says no.

HARDY was one of the first writers to join Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley’s publishing house, Tree Vibez Music, and ended up co-writing a significant chunk of Florida Georgia Line’s latter catalogue, including the smash-hit, ‘Simple’ and FGL's iconic stadium-killing Morgan Wallen collab, ‘Up Down’. His lyricism was crucial in the Bro-Country movement, with HARDY earning credits for artists like Dierks Bentley, Cole Swindell and Dylan Scott, all of whom were pushing out the party-ready anthemic tracks that fell under this new sub-genre of the mid-2010s.

HARDY would later go on tour with the FGL duo, even guesting on ‘Y'all Boys’ from their 2019 studio album, Can't Say I Ain't Country, one of his first high-profile features.

However, in 2025, HARDY and friend ERNEST - another prominent Florida Georgia Line songwriter - released a song about the demise of Bro-Country, and how country music fans were retreating from this ‘less meaningful’ side of the genre, favouring more introspective lyrics with depth beyond beers, trucks, and girls. Simply titled ‘Bro Country’, the ERNEST duet felt like the nail in the Bro-Country coffin.

But FGL is back - which means Bro-Country is, too. So, is HARDY eating his words?

“That song did not age well,” he laughs. “Sometimes you make a statement and sometimes it doesn’t always pan out.”

HARDY goes on to say that the song was actually written five years ago and, despite what those lyrics suggest, he’s pretty clear that Bro-Country “is never going to go anywhere”.

But HARDY is excited for its return and shares the unappreciated craft behind the ‘simple’ songs.

“Very well written thoughtless lyrics are actually a lot harder to do than people think,” he says. “There was a group of people that did it so well…we call it colour, and it’s expanding on a simple thought.”

The ‘Bottomland’ crooner continues. “You’d end the sentence with a noun, and it’d be like...” - HARDY waves his hands around, animated with excitement - “...She’s got on those colour of the sky, blah blah blah, knock you dead, something-something, jeans. There’s people that can fill up a line like that and do it so well…that was my favourite part of all that ‘thoughtless’ stuff. I can’t wait for it to come back”.

HARDY’s enthusiasm is palpable and his honesty refreshing. He goes on to say, “I am extremely excited for the return of FGL. I don’t even have to be a part of it, I just want it to happen…I think a lot of people do”.

In a time where our social media news feeds seem increasingly clogged up by negative and divisive stories, the feel-good, turn-it-up anthems are the medicine that people need.

He anticipates the next question and very confidently clarifies, “I don’t know anything, by the way, so we’ll see what they do. I have no idea, I’m not in the loop on that at all.”

Although disappointing to hear that HARDY is not currently involved with FGL, based on their steady past relationship and success of working together, this writer is holding out hope for at least some future co-writes - if not a full collaboration.

For more on HARDY, see below: