NEW YORK (AP) — When Outdated Dominion’s eighth group of the yr victory broke the tie for consecutive wins on the Academy of Nation Music Awards final month, it modified the file books — however not their perspective.
“They’re certainly wonderful honors that we get, but that’s not in any way how we really measure our success or think. We can’t let that kind of stuff creep in to the creative process because that’s when we’ll start to get off course,” stated Matthew Ramsey, lead vocalist and guitarist. “We try to protect each other from those outside influences a little bit and just make sure that we’re … not chasing after some sort of reaction or award, or chasing after what we think the radio wants to play. We just have to make what we love.”
Outdated Dominion has been celebrated for intertwining totally different musical kinds whereas inside nation music. Together with Ramsey, the band consists of Brad Tursi (guitar/banjo), Trevor Rosen (guitar/piano), Geoff Sprung (bass) and Whit Sellers (percussion). They’ve spent the final two years crafting “Barbara,” out Aug. 22 by way of Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville.
The mission follows 2023’s “Memory Lane” album and final yr’s “ Odies But Goodies ” compilation, which Ramsey says is much more eclectic than previous works.
“We just write constantly. And we’ve had albums where we’ve kind of gone deeper into the well and picked out older songs,” defined the 47-year-old. “This one, not so much the case.”
The 13-track album will not be named after an actual girl however is an imagined composite of an individual who embodies lots of the group’s numerous character traits. It consists of the launched singles “Me Most Nights” and “Making Good Time,” together with the four-on-the-floor “Talk Country” and the R&B-infused “What Doesn’t Kill a Memory.” Simply as introspection is a basic factor of nation music, it’s additionally the candy spot on this album.
“Miss You Man” is devoted to buddy and writing collaborator Andrew Dorff, who died in 2016 throughout a trip, whereas “Goodnight Music City” displays on the band’s profession.
“It has all the reverence about Nashville and a little bit of the jaded side to it, too. We’ve been through it in Nashville, as anyone goes through when they’re trying to chase this crazy dream,” stated Ramsey, who revealed the tune is impressed by the kids’s ebook “Goodnight Moon” by Margaret Smart Brown. “It’s such a meaningful song to us all … we’ve played it live one time at the Ryman Auditorium, and we were all crying by the end of it.”
The band additionally seems to be inside on “Man or the Song,” as Ramsey questions, “If I put my guitar down, would I disappear? / Move back to my hometown, would you still be here?” Ramsey says it is his favourite tune.
“That’s kind of what it feels like once you get to this level and you’re surrounded by all these people that are helping you make your dreams come true,” he stated. “Who’s around for the right reasons can certainly creep into the conversation. It can be a lonely profession … I hope you love me for me, and not for this crazy job I have.”
Coinciding with the discharge of “Barbara,” the band is prepping its “How Good Is That” world tour which launches Thursday at Credit score One Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina.
All through the previous decade, Outdated Dominion has earned a loyal fan base in a style usually criticized as inflexible, with frequent debates about equal radio play, what determines pure nation music and who ought to be allowed to take part. However whereas there’s no denying the group is authentically nation, the irony will not be misplaced on them that they’ve been capable of minimize by means of the Nashville noise by not sticking to solely conventional nation sounds.
“Whenever we wrote a song and recorded it, we just wanted to make sure that we were not chasing anything other than the truest form of that song and what was going to deliver that message as clearly as we wanted it to be,” stated Ramsey. “Our fans now, I think, are coming to expect that from us; they’re looking for the surprise that we’re gonna throw in there, rather than the same old thing. … We don’t take that for granted. We know that’s a rare thing in the genre.”
“Barbara” shall be launched Aug. 22.
‘Barbara’ tracklist
1. “Making Good Time”
2. “Water My Flowers”
3. “Me Most Nights”
4. “Man or the Song”
5. “Break Your Mama’s Heart”
6. “Miss You Man”
7. “Talk Country”
8. “Late Great Heartbreak”
9. “Crying in a Beach Bar”
10. “One of Us”
11. “What Doesn’t Kill a Memory”
12. “Sip in the Right Direction”
13. “Goodnight Music City”
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Comply with Related Press leisure journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton at @GaryGHamilton on all his social media platforms.
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This story corrects the tour launch to June.
