Watch Travis Denning's 'Southern Rock' Music Video with HARDY — and Find Out Why They Had to Do Multiple 'Takes' (Exclusive)

Denning's debut album 'Roads That Go Nowhere' drops Friday

• Travis Denning's "Southern Rock" music video stars his good friend and fellow country singer HARDY.

• The pair first worked together in the studio in 2017 and have been great friends ever since.

• Denning's debut album, Roads That Go Nowhere, is out Friday.

Travis Denning, at his core, is a guy from Georgia who fell in love with country music and wants to have a good time with friends like HARDY.

On Thursday, May 23, PEOPLE is exclusively debuting the music video for Denning's song "Southern Rock," which will be featured on his debut album Roads That Go Nowhere, out Friday.

"I got to do every awesome stunt driving moment in this music video, that was your boy behind the wheel," Denning, 31, tells PEOPLE exclusively of the music video. "I hope they had insurance on this video. It got a little wild a few times."

On working with HARDY, who Denning will go on the road with this summer, the country star says he loved watching his "great friend" get to work.

"He's such a pro. It's so obvious that he's so comfortable in his own shoes and it is super cool to watch," the "Call It Country" singer says.

Related: Noah Hicks Teams Up with Travis Denning and Jon Langston for 'Drinkin' in a College Town'

In the music video, Denning imagines himself riding in a '68 mustang and picks up HARDY along the way. Together, they bond over their mutual love for southern rock and they speed down a road in the classic car. In the end, he wakes up from his daydream and HARDY asks him to play "some real southern rock."

"It's so great. It's so funny. We had to do it four or five takes because the first two, we just couldn't take each other seriously. We were laughing too much," he says.

Denning and HARDY's friendship goes beyond work. The pair first got together in the studio in 2017 for a writing session and they've been "buddies ever since."

"When him and Caleigh started dating, I think me and Madison started dating shortly after them. Madison and Caleigh were buddies, and so it was just solidified everything," the "Buy a Girl a Drink" singer says. "We spent a lot of time together over COVID. I remember when 'After a Few' went No. 1, we went out on the boat celebrated. They were there for a little surprise party for me and they've just always been great friends to both me and my wife."

"Southern Rock" is a song that Denning wrote in 2016 and it just "poured out" of him as it tells the story of "where I come from" and it represents "who I am." After the song was written, it was shelved because it just wasn't the right time.

"I went back and listened to it. And for me it was a, 'Why the hell not?' It's time. I'm making a full length record. This record's about really dropping it on the ground of who I am and this song is the closest to a three minute, thirty-second autobiography that I can write," he says.

Related: Travis Denning on New Song 'Strawberry Wine and a Cheap Six Pack': 'It's Different Than Anything I've Done'

He continues, "I'm very grateful I waited because I don't think I would've cut it the way I did if I'd cut it super early in my career. Sometimes good things take a little time, and I'm very thankful that this did."

And though Roads That Go Nowhere is Denning's debut album, it's by no means his first rodeo (he released an EP in 2021 called Dirt Road Down and 2023's Might As Well Be Me). Rather, his chance to tell his full story.

"The story is a picture into my life and the roads that went nowhere that I went down, and the roads that went somewhere that I'm still on. I knew when I wrote that song that was it going to be the theme," he says. So whether it was life, love, heartbreak, happiness, marriage, where I come from, all those corners of life, I wanted to share all the ones that I had been down. It's very reflective."

He continues, "I've learned that that is not exclusive to being a singer. I think it's for anybody pursuing the things they love."

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Read the original article on People.