Sharing some insight into the massive collaboration. Before the Grammys on Sunday, which featured Zach Top and Tyler Childers winning their first-career Grammys for Best Traditional Country Album (Ain’t In It For My Health) and Best Country Song (“Bitin’ List”), the biggest story dominating the country music world the past week was none other than the surprise collaboration between Morgan Wallen, Eric Church, Tim McGraw and HARDY. Given the fact that Church, Wallen, McGraw and HARDY, all took to Instagram to upload incredibly similar posts with birth and death dates (save for Wallen) for members of a seemingly fictional McArthur family, theories about the deeper meaning of it were flowing in all week, and it quickly became clear that it was going to hold a lot of historical significance. Many of the dates mark very important moments across American history, whether it’s World War II events, a Martin Luther King Jr. speech, or the assassination of John F. Kennedy… you can read much more about that HERE. Though there were TONS of theories flying around, everything from a concept album to a Taylor Sheridan series to a new installment of the Red Dead Redemption video game, HARDY, who spearheaded the project, seemingly put them to rest Thursday by confirming the project (for now) was just a single song. Of course, “McArthur” was released on Friday to high praise from fans and critics alike. However, it looks like the supergroup may not be limiting themselves to just one song in the world HARDY, along with co-writers, Josh Thompson, Chase McGill and Jameson Rodgers, created. In an interview with Billboard, the “wait in the truck” singer would dive into the fascinating story behind the song’s creation, how Church was the catalyst in bringing the entire group together and the potential of an entire album following the story of the McArthur family. A bit surprisingly, HARDY would reveal that “McArthur” was originally written back in October shortly after he finished his tour for the year. And originally, it was conceived as a stand-alone, solo track upon its completion. “I wrote it back in October. My wife and I have a beach house in Florida, and I just finished a tour, so we decided to spend the month there and I was like, “I’d love to do some writing while I’m here, and so I talked to some co writers into doing some zoom writes. Jameson Rogers is really good at making song starts and he actually had a verse about, “I’m John McArthur, and I worked this dirt” and he had a little bit of the backbone of this thing. I take no credit for the concept coming to life. Chase McGill was the one that was like, “You know, what if we made it to where each verse was a different generation and we’re trying to hang on to this land?” I was in once I heard that. I love songs like that.  Once we got the concept, we just dug in.” However, after listening to it back, on a whim, he’d send the demo over to the “Springsteen” singer. Immediately loving the song, Church agreed when HARDY told him he and a few artists should record the song. Immediately, Church selected Wallen to be the youngest of the four McArthurs; however, the pair went back and forth on who the eldest should be. After throwing some names around, the two agreed on enlisting McGraw, who immediately said yes. “A few days after we wrote the song, I was listening to [the demo] over and over and I just on a whim sent it to Eric Church. I’ve gotten to know him pretty good and we’ll send each other song ideas. I just said, “Man, you and I and a couple other people should do this song together.” He immediately hit me back and was like, “Dude, I love this. Let’s get Morgan on it. And then we need, like an OG, like a heavy, heavy hitter, to play John.” And so, we threw some names around. Tim was the main guy the whole time and so sent it to Tim, and Tim immediately said, “I’m in” and it worked out like a dream. We really got lucky with everything. Then we were off to the races.” Undeniably, the question that has been on everyone’s mind since its elaborate teaser and subsequent release is “Will an entire ‘McArthur’ project ever be released?” HARDY himself added more fuel to the fire on Saturday when he responded to a fan’s comment on Instagram simply saying, “You haven’t even heard anything yet” in regard to the future of the McArthur story. In the interview, HARDY would clear the air by noting that discussions regarding a Highwaymen-esque collaborative album have been had. However, he would say that there’s currently no confirmation if or when that will happen despite him wanting to expand upon the story. “We have definitely thrown out the idea. It will take a lot of work, and it’s obviously four people that are heavy hitters and very busy. But, for the record, I would love to expand on this concept, truly. So the discussion has been had. There is no confirmation that it will happen, but we talked about it and if we could all somehow get together and have some time to write a storyline or the rest of a record than I would love for that to happen.” Given the incredible amount of attention to detail involved in the promotion/rollout of the initial track, ranging from the meticulous dates for all four members of the McArthur family to the fact that the song itself ends on a cliffhanger, it always felt as if this project was meant for a scale much larger than a one-off single. Though there’s no definitive answer as of today, it seems as if HARDY definitely has something more up his sleeve when it comes to the McArthurs in the future. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see. “McArthur” The post HARDY Says He’d Love To Expand On The “McArthur” Concept, Doesn’t Rule Out A “Highwaymen-Style” Collaborative Album first appeared on Whiskey Riff.