The Sit Down with Old Dominion
When Old Dominion first came to the UK to perform at C2C in 2016 they promised that the UK was a priority market for them and they certainly meant it. 9 years later, they are heading back across the Atlantic with their How Good Is That Tour, which will feature 10 European dates at the end of October - including stops in London, Manchester and Birmingham. As they build up to the tour and continue to release new music, we caught up with frontman Matt Ramsey this week
Hey Matt. Hey, how are you?
Not bad, yourself?
Excellent. Well thank you for taking the time, really appreciate it.
My pleasure.
It's been a while since you've been over to England so we're definitely looking forward to having you.
Yeah, we're looking forward to getting back for sure.
Your journey over here in England started nine years ago now, does that feel crazy the journey you've been on as a band and as a touring act and as artists since then?
Yeah, the whole picture, the whole thing is pretty crazy. We just were at the ACM Awards and someone reminded us that we've been nominated in that category for a decade now. So somehow time flies, but also it feels like a lifetime.
Do you feel like you're meant to be almost be the experts and seasoned pros now and at the same time you don't feel like it?
We definitely look at ourselves and we still feel like we have so much to prove and trying to fight and claw our way to the top, but then we look around and realise people view us differently.
As you say, it’s eight years in a row now you've won that ACM Group of the Year. How's does that feel each year going into the awards season?
Oh, it's crazy. Going into it, it's always a little bit sweeter every time because the longer it goes, the more mind-blowing it is that we're still in this conversation and we're still performing at the level that we are, especially with so many good acts out there coming up and making a lot of noise too. I think when we win it kind of pisses off some of their fans, but I can understand that! I certainly can understand that, but we're just proud of all we've accomplished and our team that helps us do it.
Do you feel a bit sheepish going up to collect the award knowing other acts are looking at you and probably a little bit annoyed?
A little bit, yeah, you definitely get that sense of like embarrassment a little bit. There was a time though when it was Rascal Flatts every year and then there was a time when it was Little Big Town every year and that's kind of the nature of this category, you go on these runs and then it'll be someone else's turn and that's fine with us.
Everyone must be hoping there's going to be a year where you don't release music, but it just doesn't happen for you guys, you're just constantly churning out hit after hit.
Yeah, we love it too much, it's too much fun.
Hey Matt. Hey, how are you?
Not bad, yourself?
Excellent. Well thank you for taking the time, really appreciate it.
My pleasure.
It's been a while since you've been over to England so we're definitely looking forward to having you.
Yeah, we're looking forward to getting back for sure.
Your journey over here in England started nine years ago now, does that feel crazy the journey you've been on as a band and as a touring act and as artists since then?
Yeah, the whole picture, the whole thing is pretty crazy. We just were at the ACM Awards and someone reminded us that we've been nominated in that category for a decade now. So somehow time flies, but also it feels like a lifetime.
Do you feel like you're meant to be almost be the experts and seasoned pros now and at the same time you don't feel like it?
We definitely look at ourselves and we still feel like we have so much to prove and trying to fight and claw our way to the top, but then we look around and realise people view us differently.
As you say, it’s eight years in a row now you've won that ACM Group of the Year. How's does that feel each year going into the awards season?
Oh, it's crazy. Going into it, it's always a little bit sweeter every time because the longer it goes, the more mind-blowing it is that we're still in this conversation and we're still performing at the level that we are, especially with so many good acts out there coming up and making a lot of noise too. I think when we win it kind of pisses off some of their fans, but I can understand that! I certainly can understand that, but we're just proud of all we've accomplished and our team that helps us do it.
Do you feel a bit sheepish going up to collect the award knowing other acts are looking at you and probably a little bit annoyed?
A little bit, yeah, you definitely get that sense of like embarrassment a little bit. There was a time though when it was Rascal Flatts every year and then there was a time when it was Little Big Town every year and that's kind of the nature of this category, you go on these runs and then it'll be someone else's turn and that's fine with us.
Everyone must be hoping there's going to be a year where you don't release music, but it just doesn't happen for you guys, you're just constantly churning out hit after hit.
Yeah, we love it too much, it's too much fun.
Well, it shows how much fun you’re having, because you’ve just opened your own bar as well in Nashville, how cool was that to go and do those opening nights and a couple of pop-up shows there?
Yeah, it’s been really special, man, it was very throwback for us, it felt like the old days when we were playing clubs. Everybody just packed in there having a good time, except this time it was our bar, so it was pretty mind-blowing.
Do you know anything about running a bar yet?
We’re learning, thankfully we have some good partners that do know how to run a bar, so we trust them.
Do you feel like you now get the VIP entrance every time or do you still feel like you need to book a table when you want to go in?
Yeah, I don’t get to go in that much, I have to kind of sneak in the back and try to hide in the corner somewhere because people are expecting me to be there. Plus my pictures are around everywhere.
I guess you can’t really get away with it when you’re sat underneath pictures of you!
Right.
Yeah, it’s been really special, man, it was very throwback for us, it felt like the old days when we were playing clubs. Everybody just packed in there having a good time, except this time it was our bar, so it was pretty mind-blowing.
Do you know anything about running a bar yet?
We’re learning, thankfully we have some good partners that do know how to run a bar, so we trust them.
Do you feel like you now get the VIP entrance every time or do you still feel like you need to book a table when you want to go in?
Yeah, I don’t get to go in that much, I have to kind of sneak in the back and try to hide in the corner somewhere because people are expecting me to be there. Plus my pictures are around everywhere.
I guess you can’t really get away with it when you’re sat underneath pictures of you!
Right.
We're now just a few weeks away from the How Good Is That tour, are you now in final countdown mode, having just done a couple of festivals and things recently?
Yeah, we're ready. We did about six days of rehearsals with the production last week and then we have a couple of festivals here and there to kind of get warmed up, but we are ready for our tour. You know, the festivals are really fun, but it's not the same as having your fans there, so it's much different energy when you know people paid money just to come see you, so we can't wait to get back.
You announced it pretty much when you were doing your Ryman residency. Did it feel a little bit surreal to be finishing one iconic moment knowing that you are then on the countdown to the next thing already before you can even always digest that?
Yeah, definitely. This year, when we started looking at the workload of the year we all got a little intimidated, but we just love it, like I was saying earlier, we just love it so much and it's so much fun and of course by the end of the year we'll be exhausted. At the end of that Ryman residency, we were just so exhausted, but we were so proud of it and there's no experience like it when you have the relationship that we have with each other and with our fans, nothing like it.
And obviously there's 10 European dates then on this tour. How important is it to get European dates in when you're planning these tours?
Yeah, it's really important to us. We started investing in our fan base in Europe very early and obviously hit a snag when Covid hit everybody and shows got cancelled - we felt terrible for that. Ultimately, it was the right decision I guess and now we're picking back up and it feels good to get back up and restart. We did C2C, which was a great kind of toe back in the water, and now to come back over on our own again is gonna be really special.
Having had that cancelled C2C, was it quite important when that booking came in to make sure you could do it?
Absolutely, I mean as disappointed as people were that we cancelled, we were just as disappointed and we just kind of had to make a judgment call, but we knew we were going to be back and we knew we wanted to come back the first moment that we could, so it was very important to us.
Now you're kind of pushing further into European countries with these dates too, including some new stops and new countries including Belgium this time.
Yeah, yeah, I don't think we've ever been there, so there's going to be some new spots for us for sure, so it's just mind-blowing that our music can reach that far and there's interest to come see us play, so if anyone wants to come see us play, we're going to show up.
It must be kind of quite rewarding still to go to new countries and have fans see you for that first time there or may have had to travel in previous years.
Yeah, it's rare these days that we get to play places where people haven't seen us, so we love that challenge and we love to be able to prove ourselves. We play every show with that in mind, even with the places that we've been to a hundred times, we know that there's people out there that have never seen us play before and we want to make sure that they walk away with a good feeling.
And then the year's going to end for you with a beach fest with your own mini festival. Where else would people want to be in November!
It should be a really special time and we definitely wanted to make it a country concert but also a little bit more of an eclectic lineup and kind of let people immerse themselves in what it is to be an Old Dominion fan. There's going to be Old Dominion stuff everywhere for the whole weekend, so it should be good.
How much say did you get when it came to planning the other acts that would be there?
We're involved in it pretty extensively. Obviously, it's a giant puzzle that everyone has to put together with people's schedules and thankfully we have an incredible booking agency that really helps us with that and puts together the options for us and who we would like and it takes place over several conversations to try to nail it down but we're definitely very involved in decision making.
I guess when you're offering artists a beach festival in November, if they're free, they're not really going to say no!
Absolutely.
Yeah, we're ready. We did about six days of rehearsals with the production last week and then we have a couple of festivals here and there to kind of get warmed up, but we are ready for our tour. You know, the festivals are really fun, but it's not the same as having your fans there, so it's much different energy when you know people paid money just to come see you, so we can't wait to get back.
You announced it pretty much when you were doing your Ryman residency. Did it feel a little bit surreal to be finishing one iconic moment knowing that you are then on the countdown to the next thing already before you can even always digest that?
Yeah, definitely. This year, when we started looking at the workload of the year we all got a little intimidated, but we just love it, like I was saying earlier, we just love it so much and it's so much fun and of course by the end of the year we'll be exhausted. At the end of that Ryman residency, we were just so exhausted, but we were so proud of it and there's no experience like it when you have the relationship that we have with each other and with our fans, nothing like it.
And obviously there's 10 European dates then on this tour. How important is it to get European dates in when you're planning these tours?
Yeah, it's really important to us. We started investing in our fan base in Europe very early and obviously hit a snag when Covid hit everybody and shows got cancelled - we felt terrible for that. Ultimately, it was the right decision I guess and now we're picking back up and it feels good to get back up and restart. We did C2C, which was a great kind of toe back in the water, and now to come back over on our own again is gonna be really special.
Having had that cancelled C2C, was it quite important when that booking came in to make sure you could do it?
Absolutely, I mean as disappointed as people were that we cancelled, we were just as disappointed and we just kind of had to make a judgment call, but we knew we were going to be back and we knew we wanted to come back the first moment that we could, so it was very important to us.
Now you're kind of pushing further into European countries with these dates too, including some new stops and new countries including Belgium this time.
Yeah, yeah, I don't think we've ever been there, so there's going to be some new spots for us for sure, so it's just mind-blowing that our music can reach that far and there's interest to come see us play, so if anyone wants to come see us play, we're going to show up.
It must be kind of quite rewarding still to go to new countries and have fans see you for that first time there or may have had to travel in previous years.
Yeah, it's rare these days that we get to play places where people haven't seen us, so we love that challenge and we love to be able to prove ourselves. We play every show with that in mind, even with the places that we've been to a hundred times, we know that there's people out there that have never seen us play before and we want to make sure that they walk away with a good feeling.
And then the year's going to end for you with a beach fest with your own mini festival. Where else would people want to be in November!
It should be a really special time and we definitely wanted to make it a country concert but also a little bit more of an eclectic lineup and kind of let people immerse themselves in what it is to be an Old Dominion fan. There's going to be Old Dominion stuff everywhere for the whole weekend, so it should be good.
How much say did you get when it came to planning the other acts that would be there?
We're involved in it pretty extensively. Obviously, it's a giant puzzle that everyone has to put together with people's schedules and thankfully we have an incredible booking agency that really helps us with that and puts together the options for us and who we would like and it takes place over several conversations to try to nail it down but we're definitely very involved in decision making.
I guess when you're offering artists a beach festival in November, if they're free, they're not really going to say no!
Absolutely.
So far this year, you've already got a few new tracks released. Me Most Nights came out a couple of weeks ago now. How does it feel to be in this new release cycle?
It's so exciting and by the time we get over to you guys, we'll have a full-blown album out so we'll have a whole bunch of new material that we're super excited about. I think everyone probably always says this but this album is the one that we're the most proud of and we genuinely are proud this one than we have been in a really long time. We're really excited to share all this new music.
You’ve got two tracks out already, can we expect more before the final release?
Yeah, I can't divulge too much of it yet, but before the album is out, there will be several more new songs. There'll be more coming for sure very soon.
When it comes to the tour, are you looking at trying to incorporate a lot of new tracks as it must be getting tougher and tougher to write those set lists now?
The set list gets hard every tour because, you know, you can't play every song and we have this amazing problem of having a lot of hits. Obviously we have to play the hits and then there's spaces in there that we've built in for a couple of new songs that will probably rotate out as we release them. Then we have a request spot, so people like to bring signs to shows because we have such a wide-ranging catalogue now. People bring signs and we pick their signs and we try to play requests so every show is different.
I guess it also doesn't help you when you’ve written so many songs for other artists too that people will want to hear!
That now kind of gets lumped into the request section too. So if people want to hear something we wrote for someone else, they have to request it because we just don't have enough time to cover all of the songs that people want to hear. So it is hard.
Well, I'm going to get my sign made and ready then for October.
Yeah, please do.
Thank you so much, Matt and we're looking forward to seeing you again.
Thank you so much, and I'll see you in October.
How Good Is That UK date
Weds 29 October LONDON Eventim Apollo
Thurs 30 October MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Fri 31 October GLASGOW SEC Armadillo
Tickets on general sale now: https://www.aegpresents.co.uk/event/old-dominion/
It's so exciting and by the time we get over to you guys, we'll have a full-blown album out so we'll have a whole bunch of new material that we're super excited about. I think everyone probably always says this but this album is the one that we're the most proud of and we genuinely are proud this one than we have been in a really long time. We're really excited to share all this new music.
You’ve got two tracks out already, can we expect more before the final release?
Yeah, I can't divulge too much of it yet, but before the album is out, there will be several more new songs. There'll be more coming for sure very soon.
When it comes to the tour, are you looking at trying to incorporate a lot of new tracks as it must be getting tougher and tougher to write those set lists now?
The set list gets hard every tour because, you know, you can't play every song and we have this amazing problem of having a lot of hits. Obviously we have to play the hits and then there's spaces in there that we've built in for a couple of new songs that will probably rotate out as we release them. Then we have a request spot, so people like to bring signs to shows because we have such a wide-ranging catalogue now. People bring signs and we pick their signs and we try to play requests so every show is different.
I guess it also doesn't help you when you’ve written so many songs for other artists too that people will want to hear!
That now kind of gets lumped into the request section too. So if people want to hear something we wrote for someone else, they have to request it because we just don't have enough time to cover all of the songs that people want to hear. So it is hard.
Well, I'm going to get my sign made and ready then for October.
Yeah, please do.
Thank you so much, Matt and we're looking forward to seeing you again.
Thank you so much, and I'll see you in October.
How Good Is That UK date
Weds 29 October LONDON Eventim Apollo
Thurs 30 October MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Fri 31 October GLASGOW SEC Armadillo
Tickets on general sale now: https://www.aegpresents.co.uk/event/old-dominion/
