For 20 years, songwriters have been testing out new material at Nashville’s writers haven the Listening Room. On Tuesday night, during a celebration of the Listening Room’s 20th anniversary at the Ryman Auditorium, Hardy stayed true to that tradition by debuting a new song for a sold-out crowd.
And it was a doozy.
Titled “Tommy Made the News,” it detailed a troubled young man’s final day at school in which he carries out a shooting: “Till 10 a.m. it was just another morning/everybody went a-running and locking their doors,” Hardy sang in a verse. “Hollow points rained like hell in the hallway/and they found Tommy on the bathroom floor.”
Hardy prefaced the song by saying he was nervous to try it out, but his direct performance enraptured the audience, who chanted his name. “Tommy Made the News” was the first of his three-song set. He followed it with “Truck Bed” and then a finale of his first Number One song as a writer, “Up Down,” recorded by Morgan Wallen.
While Hardy was the headliner of the evening, the lineup had its share of heavy hitters. Jo Dee Messina sang “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” surprise guests Old Dominion delivered “Song for Another Time,” and Brett Young offered “In Case You Didn’t Know” with his own surprise guests: Boyz II Men. The Philly soul greats received one of the night’s two spontaneous standing ovations (Hardy was the other), and fans swooned when they sang their own “Water Runs Dry.”
But this was a concert emphasizing the impact of songwriters on country music, many of whom cut their teeth on the stage of the Listening Room in its various locations. It’s currently located on 4th Avenue South, but it’s never been defined by its brick-and-mortar space, which is why founder and the night’s emcee Chris Blair chose the Ryman to celebrate the 20th anniversary milestone on Tuesday evening.
In typical Nashville fashion, the performances were delivered in a classic writers’ round style, with three or so artists on stools at the lip of the stage. J.T. Harding sang “Sangria,” his hit for Blake Shelton; Lee Thomas Miller recreated “In Color,” which he co-wrote with Jamey Johnson and James Otto; Liz Rose enlisted the audience to sing along with “Girl Crush”; and Victoria Shaw, who kicked off the night at the piano, played “The River,” her No. 1 for Garth Brooks.
Despite a three-hour show, and an afterparty down the block at Jon Bon Jovi’s bar on Broadway, the Listening Room will carry on as usual tonight: Three new artists are set to take the stage at 8:30 p.m.
