By Randy McCoy
Eastern New Mexico University is known to educate talented people that make an impact in the field they are studying.
Alumnus, Colton Forrest Hardy attended ENMU from the Fall of 2012 until the Spring of 2017 studying Music Education, which is also the degree he earned. Currently, Hardy teaches choir and guitar at Eldorado High School in Albuquerque, NM. Just finishing up his third-year teaching, this day job seems to be a perfect fit for the 27-year-old musician.
Hardy said, “My day job is teaching high school and times like now during the summer when I’ve got some time off, I kind of invest all that time to pursue my own music. Teaching lends itself pretty well to what I’m doing right now.”
When Hardy isn’t at school, he is writing and producing his own music. Recently on June 3 2021, his debut album, “Colton Forrest Hardy in the Electric Desert” was released. In Albuquerque where Hardy lives, the music scene is very prominent, that was until the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic occurred.
“Before the pandemic, the music scene here in Albuquerque was really blossoming and then just like everywhere in the world, the pandemic hit, and everything just got kind of got blasted away you know?” said Hardy.
The pandemic seemed to disrupt this beautiful art that was only beginning to make its mark in Albuquerque. Now that health orders are beginning to be lifted, musicians can emerge back to the stage, where they rightfully belong.
Hardy mentions that, “The cool thing that I’ve noticed here in the last week or two, is now that places are opening back up and people are releasing music, the community of musicians and artists that are coming together to support each other and be there for each other is so refreshing. It’s something that I really want to continue to help build this awesome community of artists.”
Hardy admits that he is new to the musical community of Albuquerque since he is freshly settled into his job; only moving to the area around three years ago. He noted the fact that he has received great support from existing artists in the area, despite being a fresh face.
Teacher is not the only title that Hardy holds, he is also a singer/songwriter. This is what ultimately lead him to make his own album. When stay at home orders were put into place, the 15 month process of developing this album began.
“During quarantine, I started working on this album that I made with my friend Jesse.” said Hardy.
Most of the album was written and tracked by Hardy himself along with the help to produce from his friend. Hardy detailed that a few of his friends were featured on some tracks in the album, but most of it is him playing each part. Since live music is coming back to life, Hardy has put together a band called, “The Colton Forrest Hardy Band”. Hardy confirmed that it is a lot of fun to be able to play live music with fellow musicians that he calls friends.
Songwriting has always been a piece of who Hardy is and he said that he wrote his first song somewhere around his junior year of high school. Hardy stated that most songs from his album are fresh, but there a few that have existed since the time he was a freshman in college. A track off the album called “Ghost Town” was written during his freshman year at ENMU.
Hardy said, “That one was sort of like just a song about not knowing where my home is, like leaving my hometown for the first time and going to a new place.”
He concludes that this album has a wide scope, but it all fits into one story. That story being the one of the last ten years of his life. Hardy said that the song, “Electric Desert” can be isolated to be named the single of the album. That is because he noted that the overall theme of this album is inspired by New Mexico landscape and growing up in the surroundings of a desert setting.
Hardy mentioned, “It’s hard to try to tell a story about yourself without that defining factor that I think the desert has always been a part of me and always will be. No matter where I go or where I live or where life takes me, I think my true home will always be New Mexico.”
Now that life seems be on the right track to going back to normal, Hardy can participate in live performances. His first one, an album release concert recently took place on June 4, 2021. Hardy also has more upcoming events, one being at Enchantment Vineyards on June 18, 2021 in the home of ENMU, Portales, NM.
Hardy noted that, “All I could ever hope for is to be heard, that people listen to these songs and maybe can connect to them in some way or another. This record is a collection of songs from my life so far and basically, I feel like I’m sharing these little snapshots of times of my life with people just in hopes that they are receptive. My goal with this isn’t to make money, I just want to share these songs with people and hopefully connect on some deeper level.”
The album “Colton Forrest Hardy in the Electric Desert” is available for streaming on Apple Music and Spotify. You can also catch the ENMU alumnus and his band, “The Colton Forrest Hardy Band” at Enchantment Vineyards in Portales at 5:30 p.m.
