‘Catch of the Day’ – Old Dominion – “Song For Another Time” [AUDIO]
Today's spotlight falls on a group who come to us from the state from which they take their name, a group that though they come from the Commonwealth of Virginia, didn't come together as a group until they had all made their individual ways to Nashville.
Old Dominion is a quintet of musicians who originate from various regions of Virginia, with lead singer Matthew Ramsey and drummer Whit Sellers coming from Roanoake, and who had met while playing in regional drum line competitions while in high school. The pair went their separate ways when it was time for college, Ramsey attending Virginia Commonwealth University and Sellers heading off to James Madison University. While at JMU, Sellers would meet, and begin writing and performing with bass player Geoff Sprung and guitarist Brad Tursi.
After graduating from VCU, Ramsay headed to Nashville, where he plied his trade as a solo artist and songwriter, where he met guitarist and keyboard player Trevor Rosen, working as a session musician. In 2003 the pair formed a song-writing partnership. In the meantime, Sellers and Sprung arrived in Nashville, where along with Ramsey, they formed the framework that would become Old Dominion. Rosen, a Detroit Native and the only band member not from Virginia, joined the group soon after its 2007 formation. The group pounded the highway, playing over 200 shows a year for the next 5 years. They had several showcases for record companies through out that time, but the timing was never right. In 2012, Sellers and Sprung's old friend Tursi, who had been a member of the rock band Army of Me, joined the group and the line-up was set.
The group, which had originally been formed to showcase songs it wrote, kept their name on people's lips by writing for artists like the Band Perry, Chris Young, Tyler Farr, Kenny Chesney, Craig Morgan and Dierks Bentley. They spent time on the road opening for Alabama, Chase Rice and Jake Owen, but in 2013 their break came when the singles "Dirt On A Road "Shut Me Up" began getting airplay on satellite radio. They soon went to work with producer Shane MacAnally, and in October of 2014, released their self-titled debut EP, selling over 1,000 copies in its first week. "Shut Me Up" was the first single and though while getting support on satellite radio, could not crack the top-50 on earthly radio station.
It was the EP's second single that would prove to be the group's breakthrough. "Break Up With Him" would again first receive attention on satellite radio, but when the group signed with RCA Nashville soon after the single's release in January of 2015, the band gained traction on the terrestrial charts. An opening slot on Kenny Chesney's Big Revival tour also helped the group, and on November 14th, the singe's slow, steady rise culminated in the group's first number 1 hit. The same week, their debut album, Meat & Candy was released, and with the help of a second top-10 single "Snap Back" has sold over 100,000 copies.
The fourth single from the album is in our spotlight today. Old Dominion and "Song For Another Time" is today's Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.