One of the most unique sounding bands in country music for me is Old Dominion. Along with their unique sound, they are very entertaining to watch and their songs are very catchy. I had the pleasure to talk with lead singer Matthew Ramsey about whats in store for them and what fans can expect next out of this talented band. The band consists of Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen (guitar & keyboards), Whit Sellers (drums), Geoff Sprung (bass guitar), and Brad Tursi (guitar).

Earlier this year, they were on tour with Kenny Chesney and Matthew tells me, “This was our third year with him, so kind of an old hat at this point. I say that, but it doesn’t get old. As always, every night was pretty special. We can’t wait to get out there and kind of have our own show with our crowd, and do our thing with our Happy Endings World Tour. It’s been a long summer and we got a little taste of what our headlining tour would be like earlier in the year, but we’re ready to get back at it.”

I asked Matthew what he likes most about touring and he said, “Honestly, the shows. It’s kind of like an easy answer and maybe a cheesy answer. But that’s really what we’re there to do, is play music. That’s why we became a band really, it was because we love playing music. We wait all day for the opportunity to do that. There’s a lot of things about touring that are tiring and sort of mundane, but once we get to step on a stage, it’s all worth it. That’s really what we all love the most. And we enjoy each others company. We’re friends, for one thing, so we”re always usually laughing right up until the moment that we go on stage. Then we’re laughing onstage because we’re quite honestly, living a dream with your buddies. It’s pretty fun.”

Some people may not know that the band members are all hit songwriters and have wrote some huge hits for a lot of other artists like Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell, Blake Sheldon and many more. I asked Matthew how does it feel to have their own hit songs and he said, “It’s super validating as a songwriter be able to be the artist that is delivering that message. We moved to Nashville to be songwriters. That was the goal. It wasn’t ever to be a successful band. When we achieved that as a songwriter I thought, ‘It’s like, that’s what we wanted. We achieved our goal. Then we started to have hits of our own and started to realize how much we were missing when we have that direct connection with the audience and your song. It’s an unbelievable feeling to be able to stand on stage and feel that. You don’t necessarily get that when you’re the songwriter and someone else is singing.”

I asked Matthew what the writing process is like and he says, “It’s kind of everything. We write together a lot. Sometimes we pair off and write with another writer, or three of us will go write with someone else. Then we just start bringing song after song after song. When we get one we love, we play it for everybody. Everyone listens and chimes in on what they think, whether or not it could work. So it’s sort of all over the place. It’s really all about getting as many great songs as we can together and then trying to figure out which ones stand out amongst that group.”

Since having a lot of success with their first album, I asked if that puts more pressure for the next album and he says, “I think we felt a little pressure. I don’t think we felt as much pressure as we do now. There was definitely pressure to keep it going. Everyone’s always talking about the Sophomore slump. We knew that was a thing but it wasn’t new to us. We’d been a band for a long time by that point. We’d been writing for a long time at that point. So we just kind of said, ‘Let’s just keep our head down and keep doing what we do and hopefully, it will continue to work. Now I feel like we might feel a little bit more pressure because we’ve won some awards and suddenly we’re Vocal Group of the Year, it comes with a certain amount of pressure itself.”

Old Dominion has had several hit songs like, “Break Up with Him,” “No Such Thing as a Broken Heart,” and “Hotel Key,” to name just a few. I asked Matthew what is their secret to all these hit songs. He said, “I think it goes back to the songwriting, honestly. It goes back to the years that we spent trying. We’re not just trying to write any song. We’re trying to write hit songs. We’re trying to write a song that appeals to the masses. That’s what we moved to Nashville to do; to make a living writing songs. That’s the nature of the songs that we’re trying to write. We write tons and tons of bad songs, but we do have a pretty good feeling of what is going to be a hit song. Now that’s not to say, I mean, I’m sure we will definitely have flops. That’s going to happen, but so far, so good!”

I asked Matthew if he thinks that because they have been around the music industry for so long before breaking out as a band, that it makes them appreciate their success even more. He states, “It definitely does. I think if this had happened to us when we were 20, it wouldn’t go so well. I think we are definitely very appreciative of this. Like I always say, we’re kind of always just waiting on someone to tap us on the shoulder and tell us, go home. When they do that, we’ll gladly do it because what an amazing ride we’ve had so far. We’ve certainly achieved more than most people get to, so from here on out, it’s just gravy.”

One of Matthews favorite songs to perform live right now is, “No Such Thing as a Broken Heart.” He says, “I love the way that song feels and what it says. And how the crowd responds to it when they all sing with it. I think it’s an empowering type of song to sing. It’s not just a little diddy, it actually has a message.”

Lastly, I asked Matthew what would he consider his biggest musical accomplishment to date is. He said, “That’s tough, because I think an easy answer is winning the ACM award. Really, that’s not it. I just think that people pay their money to come see us play. When we step on a stage and there’s six thousand people there that have paid for a ticket and know our music. I think the biggest award that we could get, is people actually wanting to hear us play. They get dressed up and they find a date, and they pay for a babysitter, and they make it a night to
come see us play. To me, that’s all you could ever want.”

Don’t miss Old Dominion on their Happy Endings Tour and follow them on social media as they are currently working on new music!