Old Dominion covers all the hits at the Royale!

Since signing their record deal in March, Old Dominion has been nothing short of road warriors.  This past week was no different with three shows in New York, one in New Jersey, the Boston show and concluding a packed week (and year) with their national television debut, playing "Break Up With Him" and "Snapback" on NBC's Today Show.

Old Dominion, made up of Matthew Ramsey (lead vocals), Trevor Rosen (guitar, keyboard), Whit Sellers (drums), Brad Tursi (guitar), and Geoff Sprung (bass guitar), recently celebrated their first number-one hit with "Break Up With Him".

The show at the Royale featured a jam packed set list including much of their debut album, Meat and Candy as well as the songwriting that put them on the map, including "Say You Do", "Sangria", and "Save it for a Rainy Day".  Old Dominion offers something for everyone including songs leaning towards young and hip ("Wrong Turns") to sweet and timeless ("Song for Another Time").  Ramsey's soulful voice shined throughout the night.  The highlight for me, easily, was hearing on of my favorite songs of 2015, "Nowhere Fast" for the first time live.  I love hearing artists play the songs they wrote and it was especially fun at this show with Ramsey, Rosen, and Tursi each taking turns at lead vocals with the songs they wrote.  

Old Dominion will return to the road in 2016 to open for Kenny Chesney's Spread the Love tour along with Miranda Lambert and Sam Hunt.  Limited tickets for the Spread the Love tour at Gillette Stadium are still available from Ticketmaster.

Follow Old Dominion on social media:

On Twitter.

On Facebook.

On Instagram.

Download Meat and Candy

On iTunes

On Google Play

Artists added to lineup for 2016 ACM PARTY FOR A CAUSE® Festival!

ENCINO, CA (December 16, 2015) – The Academy of Country Music is announcing the 4th ACM Party For A Cause® Festival in 2016 being headlined—with full set performances!—by superstars Carrie Underwood on Friday, April 1, Dierks Bentley on Saturday, April 2 and Kenny Chesney on Sunday, April 3, 2016 at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, in the heart of the famous Las Vegas Strip.  These ACM Award-winning artists will be joined on the Main Stage by some of the biggest and best names in country including Frankie Ballard, Kelsea Ballerini, Lee Brice, Cam, Sam Hunt, Chris Janson, Dustin Lynch, Kip Moore, Kellie Pickler, Chris Stapleton, Chris Young, Maddie & Tae, Old Dominion and more to be announced. The Party Stage will feature more hit makers and rising stars including Lauren Alaina, Kelleigh Bannen, Chase Bryant, Lindsay Ell, Jana Kramer, Chris Lane, Jackson Michelson, Granger Smith, Brothers Osborne and more to be announced.  Full daily schedule to be announced closer to the festival including details on a special “ACM Women of Country Night” hosted by Friday’s headliner Carrie Underwood. Fans can purchase three-day passes at www.ticketmaster.com.  Ticket proceeds from the ACM Party For A Cause Festival benefit the Academy’s charitable arm, ACM Lifting Lives.  Generous giving from fans, and partnerships with artists, has allowed ACM Lifting Lives to support military programs that use music therapy to aid our veterans and wounded warriors, while providing funding to help them ease back into civilian life.  Over $400,000 has been donated to various military organizations in just three years.  For more information, visit www.ACMpartyforacause.com. “We’re excited to bring the ACM Party for a Cause Festival back to our home-away-from-home in Las Vegas,” said Bob Romeo, CEO of the Academy of Country Music. “As we continue to raise the bar in country music entertainment, we’re also educating guests on the causes they’re contributing to.  It’s because of the fans buying tickets and joining us for this event, that we’re able to support and give back to those that serve and protect our country.”   The festival will include multiple stages for ongoing LIVE country music performances, interactive games, a country marketplace, and more to be announced.  - See more at: http://www.acmcountry.com/news?n_id=944#sthash.M7Hs7uGD.dpuf

Cam releases full length debut album Untamed!

The first line in the lyric book for Cam’s debut album, Untamed, is fittingly, “You can live in their world, or you can make up your own.”   Cam’s debut album, five years in the making, has been all about Cam taking on country music her way.  Cam wrote all the tracks for the album and was dedicated to making sure they represented her unique sound.

One of the most fun elements of Untamed (Arista Nashville/RCA Records) is that while full production elements, none of them detract from Cam’s powerful voice and clever word play lyrics.  The opening track sets the stage for this combination nicely.  “Untamed” begins with crickets and train whistles, along with banjos and a harmonica, and sets the scene of a party filled with moonshine and kisses.  Untamed offers something for everyone, whether you’re looking for a knee slapping fun (“Country Ain’t Ever Been Pretty”) or a somber heart break song (“Cold in California”).  The album closes with the hauntingly beautiful "Village" where Cam promises, "But one thing will never change / I know who you’ve been and who you’ll become / And my heaven is here with you, always".

The star of the show is still the song that started it all, “Burning House”.  The acoustic guitar and strings complement Cam’s stirring vocals and lyrics in this heartbreaking song, the only song RIAA Gold by a female country singer this year.  Spotify streams for “Burning House” are now over 18.5 million, and total streams across all of Cam’s music top 35 million.  The music and lyric videos have over 12 million views on Vevo.

Follow:
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook

Cam will be in New England in the new year as part of Brad Paisley’s  "Crushin' It World Tour" in 2016.  The tour will play the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, ME on Friday, January 29th.  Tickets for that show are available here.  The tour will stop at Mohegan Sun on Sunday, January 31st in Uncasville, CT.  For a full list of dates, click here.

Track Listing for Untamed

1.  Untamed

Favorite Lyric:  Now don’t you be shy / No your mama won’t see

2.  Hungover on Heartache

Favorite Lyrics: Either way things have to change / Yeah we’re tattooed with the words that won’t wash away

3.  Mayday

Favorite Lyrics:  Strung it on too long afraid to be alone now we’re in over our heads

4.  Burning House

Favorite Lyrics:  I laid beside you and pulled you close / And the two of us went up in smoke 

5.  Cold in California

Favorite Lyrics:  I've got a soft spot for those / With the wind in their soul

6.  My Mistake

Favorite Lyrics:  And he’ll be gone before the mornin’ light / But he’s my mistake to make all night

7.  Runaway Train

Favorite Lyrics:  The coals are burning inside me / So don’t you dare think I won’t

8.  Half Broke Heart

Favorite Lyrics: A half truth’s still a lie / I need my space is still goodbye

9.  Want It All

Favorite Lyric:  Got my angels and my demons and I think we all agree / If you’re gonna go for somethin’ better make it everything

10.  Country Ain’t Ever Been Pretty

Favorite Lyrics:  Beer goggles are cheaper than Gucci glasses anyway

11.  Village

Favorite Lyrics:  And that’s where I’ll be, with a front row seat / To watch you live your life well

Taste Of Country Music Festival Announces Artists to join Jake Owen and Kenny Chesney

NASHVILLE, TN – December 9, 2015 – Gary Allan, Big & Rich, Frankie Ballard, Eric Paslay, Chris Janson, Old Dominion, Neal McCoy, The Swon Brothers, The Cadillac Three, Jana Kramer, Outshyne, William Michael Morgan and Annie Bosko will perform at the 4th Annual Taste of Country Music Festival, the Northeast’s premier 3-day country music festival. The Festival will be held June 10-12, 2016 at Hunter Mountain Resort (Hunter, NY) in the Great Northern Catskills of Greene County. This star-packed list of performers will join Kenny Chesney and Jake Owen – who were previously announced as headliners – on the TOC stage in 2016. 

“Taste of Country is shaping up to be another record-breaking year,” said Dhruv Prasad, Executive Vice President, Live Events, Townsquare Media Inc. “It’s important to us to provide our fans the best country music and camping experience in the Northeast, and we believe our strong lineup paves the way for an amazing 3- days.“

Tickets for the Taste of Country Music Festival are on sale at www.tasteofcountryfestival.com. General admission tickets start at only $165 for a 3-day pass, available for a limited time only. VIP packages start at $519 for a 3-day VIP “Outlaw Pass” with “Super Outlaw Pass” packages available as well.

The festival is again offering attendees an off-site car and RV camping option at Bear Creek, located a few miles from the festival grounds, with camping prices starting at $109. The off-site camping passes will come with free shuffle service to/from the festival grounds. In response to the festival’s incredible growth over the past few years, a Guaranteed Tent Camping option has been added, with passes starting at $10. Free Tent Camping is still an option, provided there is space available at the time of entry.

Information on tickets, camping, VIP packages, hotel accommodations, directions and more are available online at TasteofCountryFestival.com.

The Taste of Country Music Festival is the first and only 3-day country music camping festival in the Northeast. The festival features world-class entertainment, camping in the renowned terrain of the Catskills, outdoor recreation, top-notch food and beverage service and luxury mountainside accommodations unique to host Hunter Mountain. The festival has already established itself as a must-do for country music fans because of the powerhouse list of artists that perform. The 2015 Taste of Country Music Festival’s star-packed lineup included Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Billy Currington, Eli Young Band, Chase Bryant, Sara Evans, Easton Corbin, LOCASH and many others. The festival saw significant growth for the third year in a row. Over 50,000 fans attended the 3rd annual Taste of Country Music Festival to see the superstars, legends and hottest rising newcomers in country music.

Old Dominion comes to Boston: An Interview with Matthew Ramsey

Even before the release of their debut single, “Break Up With Him”, Old Dominion was already influencing what country music fans were hearing on the radio.  The quintet, comprised of Matthew Ramsey (lead vocals), Trevor Rosen (guitar, keyboard), Whit Sellers (drums), Brad Tursi (guitar), and Geoff Sprung (bass guitar), has written No. 1 hits for some of today’s top country artists.

While Ramsey and Rosen have written for the likes of Dierks Bentley (“Say You Do”) and Craig Morgan (“Wake Up Loving You”), Ramsey also collaborated with band mate Tursi for Kenny Chesney’s “Save It For A Rainy Day” and Rosen wrote “Neon” for Chris Young and “Come Back To Me” for Keith Urban.

Although these projects seem by design, the collaborations with most artists are sometimes more happenstance than not. “We don’t set out to write for other people. We just try to write the best song we can,” he explains.

“Break Up With Him” was the first song that all five members collaborated on, and fittingly, their first No. 1 hit as a band.  Even the band itself couldn’t have guessed how quickly the song would bring them success.  Ramsey said, “The whole ride of that song has been pretty amazing.  It’s crazy now that we start to play and people are screaming and taking out their phones”.

In putting together their first LP, “Meat and Candy”, the band had some decisions to make in terms of what songs to include.  Thanks to stations like Sirius XM radio, a few songs like “Shut Me Up” had already had their chance to shine, so the group was excited to showcase new material. “Nowhere Fast” took off and soon found its way to Country Aircheck’s Top 50 without being released as a single. “It means so much that people are singing it.  We feel so lucky,” said Ramsey.

Since the release of “Break Up With Him”, the band has been road warriors, which made it difficult to find time to record the tracks in Nashville.  According to Ramsey, the band had two days to lay down the tracks for seven songs.  Starved for time and proper location, the band even found itself recording background vocals in dressing and hotel rooms. 

Ramsey admitted it was tough to choose which song to release as their next single, considering the group is so excited to share the new music. The band felt current single, “Snapback” was still young like “Break Up With Him” and that the song could serve as a bridge from the fun songs on the album to the more serious like “Song From Another Time”.  

Old Dominion’s growing success has given them a more selective approach to offering their songs for other artists to record.  “We’re transitioning from songwriters to artists.  Now we can get first pick or only pitch songs to the biggest artists,” said Ramsey.

The band spent the summer opening for Kenny Chesney’s Big Revival Tour and will again hit the road with Chesney this summer for Spread the Love tour, named in honor of the singer’s charity created in response to the Boston Marathon bombings.   Ramsey called his first Gillette Stadium ‘Countryfest’ “amazing” and looks forward to playing again this summer.  The pair of shows at Gillette broke Chesney’s personal record by playing for 120,206 people over the two nights. 

The band was thrilled to be asked to hit the road with Chesney again this year.  “We were getting kind of sad that [The Big Revival] was ending. He told us he was inviting us back, and we did some celebrating that night,” said Ramsey. 

Old Dominion returns to Boston on Thursday, December 17, at the Royale located at 279 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116.  The show is sold out but you can try to win your way in thanks to Country 102.5.

Limited tickets for the Spread the Love tour at Gillette Stadium are still available from Ticketmaster.

Follow Old Dominion on social media:
On Twitter.
On Facebook.
On Instagram.

Download Meat and Candy
On iTunes
On Google Play

Check out these great backstage portraits from the AMA's!

For the rest of the portraits, click here.

Grammy Nominees Announced - Chris Stapleton earns Album of the Year nomination - Sam Hunt up for Best New Artist

The Recording Academy announced nominations today for the 58th Annual GRAMMY Awards, reflecting a diverse blend of talented music makers as determined by The Academy's voting membership.

This year, Kendrick Lamar leads nominations with 11, followed byTaylor Swift and The Weeknd, who each earn seven. Additionally, music producer/songwriter Max Martin receives six nominations and mastering engineer Tom Coyne, rapper Drake, and engineers/mixers Serban Ghenea and John Hanes each earn five nominations.

The eclectic nature of this year's nominations is exemplified in the Album Of The Year category, where nominees range from the alternative and soulful rock of Alabama Shakes and Lamar's thought-provoking jazz-infused rap to the classic country sounds of Chris Stapleton, the pop emergence of Swift, and the genre-bending R&B style of The Weeknd.

"The diversity in the creative community is what makes music a universal language, and it's gratifying to see the vibrancy of today's artistic landscape reflected in this year's nominations — a testament to The Academy's voting members," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. "Artists are pushing boundaries in exciting ways, making it an exceptionally strong year for music."

Following are the nominations in the General Field categories:

Record Of The Year
"Really Love" — D'Angelo And The Vanguard
"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars
"Thinking Out Loud" — Ed Sheeran
"Blank Space" — Taylor Swift
"Can't Feel My Face" — The Weeknd

Album Of The Year
Sound & Color — Alabama Shakes
To Pimp A Butterfly — Kendrick Lamar
Traveller — Chris Stapleton
1989 — Taylor Swift
Beauty Behind The Madness — The Weeknd

Song Of The Year
"Alright" — Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
"Blank Space" — Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
"Girl Crush" — Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Liz Rose, songwriters (Little Big Town)
"See You Again" — Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth & Cameron Thomaz, songwriters (Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth)
"Thinking Out Loud" — Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge, songwriters (Ed Sheeran)

Best New Artist
Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor

Following is a sampling of nominations in the GRAMMY Awards' other 29 Fields:

For Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, the nominees are "Ship To Wreck" by Florence & The Machine; "Sugar" by Maroon 5; "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars; "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar; and "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth.

The nominees for Best Dance Recording are "We're All We Need" by Above & Beyond Featuring Zoë Johnston; "Go" by the Chemical Brothers; "Never Catch Me" by Flying Lotus Featuring Kendrick Lamar; "Runaway (U & I)" by Galantis; and "Where Are Ü Now" by Skrillex And Diplo With Justin Bieber.

The Best Rock Performance nominees are "Don't Wanna Fight" by Alabama Shakes; "What Kind Of Man" by Florence & The Machine; "Something From Nothing" by Foo Fighters; "Ex's & Oh's" by Elle King; and "Moaning Lisa Smile" by Wolf Alice.

The nominees for Best Alternative Music Album are Sound & Color by Alabama Shakes; Vulnicura by Björk; The Waterfall by My Morning Jacket; Currents by Tame Impala; and Star Wars by Wilco.

For Best Rap Album, the nominees are 2014 Forest Hills Drive by J. Cole; Compton by Dr. Dre; If Youre Reading This Its Too Late by Drake; To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar; and The Pinkprint by Nicki Minaj.

The nominees for Best Urban Contemporary Album are Ego Death by the Internet; You Should Be Here by Kehlani; Blood by Lianne La Havas; Wildheart by Miguel; and Beauty Behind The Madness by The Weeknd.

The Best Country Album nominees are Montevallo by Sam Hunt; Pain Killer by Little Big Town; The Blade by Ashley Monroe; Pageant Material by Kacey Musgraves; and Traveller by Chris Stapleton.

The nominees for Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical are Jeff Bhasker, Dave Cobb, Diplo, Larry Klein, and Blake Mills.

For Best Music Video, the nominees are "LSD" by ASAP Rocky; "I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)" by the Dead Weather; "Alright" by Kendrick Lamar; "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar; and "Freedom" by Pharrell Williams.

This year's GRAMMY Awards process registered more than 21,000 submissions over a 12-month eligibility period (Oct. 1, 2014 – Sept. 30, 2015). GRAMMY ballots for the final round of voting will be mailed on Dec. 16 to The Recording Academy's voting members. Ballots are due back to the accounting firm Deloitte by Jan. 15, 2016, when they will be tabulated and the results kept secret until the 58th GRAMMY Awards telecast.

The 58th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held Feb. 15, 2016, at Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).