McArthur-Top New Song Pick (Feb 2026)

SANA
1 day ago
3 min read

The month of February is kicking off to a great start with an unexpected treasure from a talented group of Nashville's brightest gifting us a gem of a song that will certainly become a classic in years to come. McArthur is a new song co-penned by one of the most creative and prolific Nashville songwriters to date Hardy. Do you remember Hix Tape 3: DiffTape? It was a tribute to one of the all-time honky tonk greats Joe Diffie. It was also Toby Keith's last studio recording before he passed on February 5th, 2024. Then Hardy also reimagined one of the most popular rap songs in history Gin & Juice and roped in Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog in 2025 for the song video shown below.

It looks like the year is shaping up for Hardy, as he is hot off of the heels of his Billboard Country Play chart topper Favorite Country Song, which has notched 46 weeks on the chart and counting. It was co-penned with Nate Smith and Ashley Gorley among others. Ashley, by the way holds the record for the most number ones from a single country music songwriter. Here's one of the sweetest songs Mr. Gorley co-penned with Posty.

Hardy, I think has written another memorable award worthy hit, and unwittingly formed a super group we didn't know we needed. On January 30th, country music fans were treated to one of the best country concept songs I've heard in a while.

The song is titled McArthur, and tells the tale of four generations of McArthur men and the decisions they make that shape the family's legacy. The song hit home as it is a narrative that has played out in my own family. What I'm talking about is the land that John McArthur aka Tim McGraw bled on the ground for according to the song that is now potentially the site for a subdivided neighborhood. Really, a stunning betrayal, if you think about it. The song continues with Eric Church singing as Junior McArthur who upholds his father's values and served in Vietnam. Hardy picks up the torch as Jones McArthur who also echoes his descendants in preserving their legacy. However, Hunter McArthur represented by Morgan Wallen has a different spin. In the song, college taught him to value money over legacy and he ponders selling the family ranch for a cool million dollars.

Like I said, it's the super group no one knew they needed, but this could be just a one off too. (Sorry folks!). It is quite possible Hardy just gathered a few of his friends for this epic vocal event. Everyone sounds great. The stripped down arrangement forces you to pay attention to the lyrics. The music picks up a bit when Eric starts to sing moving the song forward. The tune has a similar sonic feel to Wallen's I'm a Little Crazy. It would be amazing, if this turned out to be a full concept album. But alas, if it's just this one song, I'm still happy to have heard it, and hope you'll give it a spin too.

Song: McArthur

Songwriters: Chase McGill, Jameson Rodgers,

Josh Thompson, Michael Hardy

Producer: James Joyce Label: Big Loud

I love writing in this blog, but as many of you know, I've been extremely busy with several passion projects. Writing here, thankfully still feels like home. I’ll be back whenever the words start tapping me on the shoulder again. :)

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