T. Hardy Morris – “Audition Tapes”

by | Aug 7, 2013 | Indie Rock, Reviews

audition-tapes_detailT. Hardy Morris
Audition Tapes
Athens, GA
(Dangerbird Records)

“Rolls along like a memory of a dream you almost forgot”

As Dead Confederate fans digested the newly released In The Marrow, letting that sink into their bones and fatten their bellies, frontman T. Hardy Morris prepared for his debut solo release, Audition Tapes, on which he provided a solid and stable home for his songs that fit nowhere else.

Morris successfully created content that stands on its own yet alongside the psychedelic sounds of Dead Confederate and the supergroup side project Diamond Rugs.  His vocals resonant undeniably; fans will know him when they hear him, but this collection of songs explores deeper waters with the prolific songwriter.

The debut speaks of the friends Morris left behind in the town where he grew up; the same friends we categorically have in life: those who learn from their dabbling and those who drown. Though the entire album rolls along like a memory, striking emotional as well as musical chords, the sad quality of “Beauty Rest” comes through in tone and in the video for the “Places In Peril” series. The three musicians stand like a moment of time encased by the Rock House in Thompson, Georgia, singing about that time when we get our beauty rest. The imagery of the historic house is juxtaposed against the idea that self-destruction makes one ugly, but rest revitalizes, and the song, as does the album, hints at death as the ultimate chance to rest.

  • Produced by Cosmic Thug (Adam Landry and Justin Collins) 
  • Recorded at Playground Sound, Nashville

www.t.hardymorris.com