Newcomers Old Dominion head into the week of CMA Awards 2015 in an enviable position– with their debut single ascending to the top of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. Even though the five songwriters in the group have charted five number ones for other artists, namely Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton, Tyler Farr and the Band Perry, “Break Up with Him” just happens to be the first song they’ve ever all written together.
“That’s one of those songs that developed as we were out on the road,” drummer Whit Sellers recalls. “The legend is that we were just kind of jamming along with something at sound check and got the feel going and these guys finished it off in the van.”
“I don’t know why I had the idea for a one-sided conversation,” lead singer Matthew Ramsey chimes in. “We were in the van. Everyone was asleep but [keyboardist] Trevor [Rosen], so I went back to him, and said [the first line], ‘Hey girl, it’s late,’ and we were just giggling. You just start with that first line and see where it takes you and we ended up landing on ‘Break Up with Him’.”
Landing at number one is not a bad way to start the week your debut album comes out. Meat and Candy will be available in stores and online Friday, as the band continues playing solo dates before joining Kenny Chesney on tour in 2016, just as they did last summer.
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