T. Hardy Morris - Dude, The Obscure (2018)

Best known as the guitarist and singer with the psych-influenced, defiantly Southern hard rock band Dead Confederate, Georgia-born T. Hardy Morris (also billed sometimes as Hardy Morris) has also made a name for himself as a solo artist and as a gifted collaborator working with several side projects. Formed in Augusta, Georgia in 1997 by Thomas Hardy Morris and longtime friend Walker Howle, Dead Confederate slowly evolved from a jam band called Redbelly that favored 20-minute improvisations to a tighter, more ambitious group thanks in part to Morris' growing skills as a songwriter. Dead Confederate landed a record deal in 2007, and thanks to steady touring and a handful of strong records became one of the leading bands on the roots rock underground. Despite Dead Confederate's busy schedule, Morris had more than enough musical ideas to go around, and in 2011, his friend John McCauley of Deer Tick invited him to join an ad hoc band featuring Ian St. Pé of the Black Lips, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, Bryan Dufresne of Six Finger Satellite, and McCauley's bandmate Robbie Crowell. Dubbing the project Diamond Rugs (or D. Rugs for short), the quintet released a self-titled debut album in 2012 and a second LP, Cosmetics, in 2015. In 2013, Morris had accumulated a number of songs that didn't fit Dead Confederate or Diamond Rugs, and he opted to make his first solo album; Audition Tapes, credited to T. Hardy Morris & the Outfit, revealed a different side of his music, with a looser and more languid tone than he showed in Dead Confederate. In 2015, Morris dropped a second solo effort, Drownin' on a Mountaintop, this time under the group name Hardy & the Hardknocks. ~ Mark Deming