By Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Old Dominion, the country music band that includes Botetourt natives Matthew Ramsey and Whit Sellers, won Vocal Group of the Year at last month’s Country Music Association (CMA) Awards.
“It’s an amazing honor to be included in this whole thing– country music in general,” Ramsey said. “The fact that we’re being recognized by our peers is incredible. We get a lot of great feedback from our fans these days, which is an incredible thing in its own right. But to be recognized by our peers is another level of validation, so it feels great.”
This marks the band’s second year in a row as Vocal Group of the Year.
The band took the stage during the 53rd Annual CMA Awards to perform its single “One Man Band.” The song, which is on the band’s self-titled third album, became the band’s eighth No. 1 song last week when it topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart.
“What an amazing thing we get to be a part of,” Ramsey said when he accepted the award. “I keep thinking about back in the day we used to operate under this really strange mantra of self-preservation where anytime anything good would happen to us, we would look at each other and say ‘This is never going to work anyway.’ Tonight, when I look out and think about all of the people that have supported us, believed in us, pushed us, and loved us we should have been saying ‘Of course we’re going to make it. Of course it’s going to work.’ Thank you to all of you who have believed in us and keep pushing us.”
Also nominated for Vocal Group of the Year were Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Midland, and Zac Brown Band.
As for what the next year holds for the band, it will be touring with Kenney Chesney next summer. Ramsey said that overall their touring schedule will be lighter than this year, which will allow him and his bandmates time to devote to writing and recording.
In addition to Ramsey and Sellers, the band is comprised of Trevor Rosen, Geoff Sprung, and Brad Tursi.
Ramsey said that he’s looking forward to next year’s Nashville Night in Buchanan. “It’s just a blessing to be able to give back to a community that has supported me,” he said. “We’re excited to keep it growing.”
