Today we’d like to introduce you to Case Hardin.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My whole family has always rodeoed and ranched, which is what I thought I was going to do until my senior year of high school in 2013. I started a band with some of the guys I went to school with, competed and won the state talent competition in the FFA, and tried out for American Idol that same year. After making it through 9 rounds of American Idol, I came back home and began playing shows in every honky tonk an 18-year-old kid could get into.
We started playing Texas dancehall shuffle music (like Jody Nix, Jake Hooker, Bob Wills), but as I started to write and record my music, I fell in love with the Neo-Traditional sound (like George Strait, Tracy Byrd, Brooks & Dunn) that you can still hear in my music today. Since the release of my 1st album, “Over Fort Worth” in 2016, I’ve gotten to play rodeos, fairs, festivals, and tour with greats like Tracy Byrd, Cody Johnson, Aaron Watson, Pat Green, Parker McCollum, Dwight Yoakum, and many other Texas/Nashville legends. After graduating with a major in pre-law from Angelo State University in 2019, I became sick – almost to the point where doctors weren’t sure if I would make it to my 26th birthday. Because of this, as well as the world pandemic, I had to take a step back from making music.
In 2021, after some time to recuperate, I was medically cleared by doctors to start touring and playing again with a clean bill of health. I also released my sophomore album, “Lucky Him”, that same year with great success. Since then, I have been fortunate enough to amass 5 consecutive #1s on the Texas Country charts, with a 6th en route as we speak. In the last few months, my producer Kenny Grohman and I have been back in the studio working on a 3rd album filled with songs about rodeo, drinking, partying, love, heartbreak, honky tonks, and everything else in between. The words in the songs that I sing are what I love. If I’ve gone through it, I know there are plenty of folks out there who have gone through the same thing. Country Music is the story of our lives, and I’m forever grateful and blessed to be a part of such a great industry.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Playing Country Music has always been great. I love the business aspect, but I also love the creative side of being able to write and formulate my songs and sound; to make something that’s never been done before. With my illness in 2019, I struggled with the concept that I may not be able to play or create music anymore.
If it weren’t for my faith, my family, my friends, and my love for music, I’m not sure we’d even be able to have this conversation. Everything happens for a reason, and I’m thankful that life has played out to where I can live this dream and play Country Music full-time. I know that’s not something very many people get to do, and I don’t take a minute of it for granted.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a kid in his 20s, I am proud to play Country Music in and around my home state of Texas, as well as to those around the country. I love playing Neo-Traditional Country Music with the classic sounds of a fiddle and steel guitar, all while being able to put my spin on things to make something that’s original and all mine – a unique blend of old and new Country Music.
I’m proud of the music my band and I get to play on a nightly basis, and the connections we get to make along the way, and I’m proud to bring my brand of Country Music to the masses.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
100%, the most important lesson I’ve learned is to never take a minute of this journey for granted. In college, before I knew that I was sick, it never occurred to me that my ability to play and record music could be taken away at any moment.
I’ve learned to take in the good, as well as the bad because at the end of the day, nothing is guaranteed. I’ve just been very fortunate and blessed to be able to do what I do, and I wholeheartedly know that now.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.casehardin.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/case_hardin/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaseHardinMusic/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Case_Hardin
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@casehardin
- Other: https://linktr.ee/case_hardin
Image Credits
LaRae Russell Photography
