RCA Nashville
Old Dominion is currently the reigning CMA and ACM Vocal Group of the Year, and their latest hit, “Make It Sweet,” is in the top five.
But if the five-man band seems a little in disbelief about their overwhelming success, lead singer Matthew Ramsey says there’s a good reason: it wasn’t that long ago they were still a group of struggling songwriters playing in a bar band.
“It was a long road to get here,” he explains, “and there were so many years spent in that bar band mode, and then just a very few at the end in the mode that we’re in.”
“So as far as time goes, yeah, we’re not very far removed from it,” Matthew continues. “Now we’re at a point where we do need to own [our success] a little bit — where we are — just like, awards and things like that.”
The guys are currently on their Make It Sweet Tour, headlining arenas and amphitheaters. Matthew points out that with OD’s success also comes a lot more responsibility.
“You know, it’s a big deal now,” he admits. “And there’s some pressure involved with that for sure. And maybe… it’s a defense mechanism of like, ‘No, we’re not that big!'”
“But it’s really good to be us,” he concludes, “and it feels very validating and we’re very proud of where we are and what we’ve achieved as songwriters and as a band.”
Old Dominion is set to perform at Sunday’s 54th Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, as they defend their Group of the Year title. You can tune in to watch the show, hosted by Reba McEntire, starting at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
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