Founded in early 2017 by members of Light Beam Rider, after that promising former Mississippi-bred project split, Nashville’s Have A Rad Day, or H.A.R.D., as they generally go by, have been gaining local buzz since first appearing on a number of bills that year. The group garnered attention for first single, “Bellyacher,” not long after coming together, and with production and co-writing from Diarrhea Planet’s Jordan Smith, and guest vocals from The Weeks’ Cyle Barnes, it served as an exciting, commanding, confident introduction, establishing the band’s sound somewhere between DP’s shred-worthy, riff-tastic, fun loving party punk, and The Weeks’ sludgy, southern rock.
Another early single, “Hometown Hero,” further flexed H.A.R.D.’s range and had us keeping a close eye on the group ahead of their absolutely fantastic debut EP, Have A Rad Day, which dropped in 2018, and serves a hell of an introductory effort, landing as one last year’s best local releases, and asserting H.A.R.D. as the next great Nashville rock band to watch, especially if you’ve been mourning the loss of Diarrhea Planet as hard as we have (Smith’s production hand is definitely felt, and he even appears as a guest on standout track “Sports Sinner”).
The hard-hitting, fun-loving, riff-shredding indie punks dropped an inspired new single- a first taste of new music since their EP- the beer-guzzling, guitar-soaring, chant-along-primed “Thank God There Are People Like Me,” back in the summer, and have wowed us with several shows already this year, including a debut at Louisville’s Forecastle Fest. Tonight, Dec. 5, they’ll wind down the year with an extra special show at Mercy Lounge, dubbed Have A Rad Christmas (Or Any Other Holiday), an outing we hope becomes a new annual tradition! Set to benefit The Heartstrings Foundation, and boasting a “drunk Santa” and “gift shop,” the lineup also includes Charleston poppy grunge rockers and longtime site faves Heyrocco, grungy alt rock locals Reality Something, and local indie artist Shoe! A killer rock lineup to help get you into the holiday spirit, you can still get tickets right here while they last!
H.A.R.D. host Have A Rad Christmas (Or Any Other Holiday) tonight, Dec. 5 at Mercy Lounge, along with Hey Rocco, Reality Something, and Shoe. The show is 18+, begins at 9 p.m. (doors at 8 p.m.), and tickets are available to purchase for $10.
