The Ground I Grew Up On

American Idol's Laine Hardy is Louisiana Tourism's newest True Ambassador

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Laine Hardy’s been busy. In 2018, the then-seventeen-year-old Livingston native          auditioned for Season Sixteen of American Idol, making it to the top fifty contestants. When he accompanied his friend during her audition for Season Seventeen, he sang “Take a Load off Annie” on the way out, and Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie practically begged him to take the golden ticket to Hollywood. “It’s sitting right here,” Richie told him of his future. “This time, you’ve got a shot.” Perry told him, “You could win this one.” 

And, he did. 

Since then, he’s released five original singles—including “Ground I Grew Up On,” in which he croons: 

“Might look like nothin’ but gravel roads

 and tractors rollin’ over them fields

and prayin’ that we get a little rain soon

 and cuttin’ loose in hand me down wheels

and knockin’ them Friday night beers back

by the train tracks and thinkin’ that

I’d never miss this place when I got gone

But that’s the ground I grew up on.” 

 In the song’s music video, which is shot in Livingston, Hardy laughs with friends while loading an ice chest into a pickup truck, speeding down Louisiana waterways against cypress sunsets, and playing music on the front porch in his rubber boots. His other 2020 releases, “Tiny Town,” “Let There Be Country,” and “Other LA” are also inspired by Hardy’s childhood in South Louisiana. 

“I love it there,” Hardy told me of his hometown over Zoom mid-May, just a few days after the release of his latest single, “Memorize You” and a return guest appearance on Idol. “Life there is just so gentle.” 

Earlier in May, Hardy’s passion for his home state earned him the designation as a True Ambassador of Louisiana, an honor awarded by the Lieutenant Governor’s Office. He’ll be the new face of the Louisiana Office of Tourism’s “Louisiana is a Trip” campaign, an initiative designed to encourage locals to make the most of our vibrant state’s experiences through close-to-home attractions and road trips. 

Hardy told me he was excited to share the gospel of Louisiana tourism, especially when it comes to outdoor excursions, “and the food!” “Food’s number one,” he said. “But the music, the fishing, the people. Louisiana has good, good people.” As for his favorite Louisiana experience? “Grand Isle. The fishing charters are incredible. Catching red fish and drum. It’s just a true Louisiana experience.” 

After completing his 2020 “Ground I Grew Up On” tour entirely virtually, Hardy is excited to be performing live once again, and is visiting a new city virtually every week until September. On June 5, he’ll be returning to Louisiana for the Salty Catch Trout Shootout & Concert at the Lake Charles Civic Center, which will benefit disaster relief efforts in Louisiana. As we spoke, people in Lake Charles were at that very moment looking out over a flooded city, preparing themselves to rebuild again after an impossible year. “I’m looking forward to being able to go back home, especially to Lake Charles, which has struggled so much in recent months,” said Hardy.  “I’m happy to be able to go there in person, and to hopefully lift some spirits.” 

As he gears up for a year of travel and music, Hardy said he is happy to have another tie to Louisiana as a True Ambassador. “To be able to get this honor is just really crazy to even process,” he said. “But I’m going to take Louisiana with me everywhere I go.” 

lainehardymusic.com