{"id":72323,"date":"2019-10-29T20:08:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-29T18:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/whisnews21.com\/?p=72323"},"modified":"2019-10-29T20:08:32","modified_gmt":"2019-10-29T18:08:32","slug":"old-dominion-lets-you-in-behind-the-cover-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/29\/old-dominion-lets-you-in-behind-the-cover-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Old Dominion Lets You In Behind The Cover Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Old Dominion Lets You In Behind The Cover Story<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Consisting of Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Geoff Sprung, Brad Tursi.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

t\u2019s not exactly breaking news to suggest that Music Row isn\u2019t a hotbed of casual spontaneity in terms of its day-to-day operations. Album releases are scheduled many months in advance, same with how studios are booked solid for the foreseeable future. Songwriter\u2019s Gmail calendars are typically packed with carefully slotted co-writing sessions, with each morning and afternoon of a given week looking like an expert game of Tetris.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not unheard of for the most major of record labels to painstakingly plot out the breaking of a new artist, which sometimes results in a new record being shelved for a certain length of time. It\u2019s all about proper planning, checking market trends, protecting yourself against risk, optimizing any move you make for the highest reward.<\/p>\n

Consisting of Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Geoff Sprung and Brad Tursi, modern country pop band\u00a0Old Dominion\u00a0has seen all the methods and strategies a record label might employ since forming in 2007. As with any rule, however, there are exceptions. And with a couple of gold records and a handful of No.1 hit singles to its name, Old Dominion is a band that\u2019s earned the right to absolutely be one of the proverbial hit-making exceptions to the often restrictively controlling record label rules.<\/p>\n

For the five-piece band\u2019s new self-titled RCA Nashville record, producer and longtime ally Shane McAnally was enlisted to helm the free-spirited sessions that resulted in a record that\u2019s already spawned a couple of hits in \u201cMake it Sweet,\u201d the group\u2019s most recent No.1, as well as the breezy, groove-intensive \u201cOne Man Band.\u201d Aside from a few musical and lyrical bits and pieces here and there, what listeners experience on the new record was conceived and perfected in the studio by the band and its producer acting as craftsmen toiling away in a tool- and scrap-filled workshop.<\/p>\n

\"\"Lead singer Matthew Ramsey found the sessions to be just what the group needed at this point in its existence. The picture he paints of free-flowing creative brainstorming is more or less the opposite of what many efficiency-focused, quick turnaround Nashville recording sessions are often like.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very relaxed, and at times, very spontaneous,\u201d the Virginia-native says over the phone, with a slightly mischievous chuckle growing more obvious. \u201cThere would be times when we\u2019d be sitting in the control room and we would be like, \u2018O.K. what are we going to do next?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For what it\u2019s worth, from Ramsey\u2019s perspective, his label bosses weren\u2019t wringing their hands and fretting too terribly over the band\u2019s carefree approach. Some might think such hands-off freedom is the result of a band winning autonomy after netting its corporate minders an office full of gold plaques and stockholder earnings, but Old Dominion hasn\u2019t yet toiled under the overbearing eyes or watch-tapping fingers of any such executive overlords up to this juncture.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur record label has always been supportive of what we want to do,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019ve never so much as poked their head into any session of ours. I do think they sensed our excitement about what we were doing and how we were doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0lxA1FXOiv0?feature=oembed]<\/div>\n

The video for \u201cOne Man Band\u201d complete with raw, behind-the-scenes footage of the group and their producer at work in the studio, might as well be a cinema verit\u00e9 fly-on-the-wall piece of documentary film-making. Mixed in with footage of the guys playing the song live on a concert stage, are clips of the band taking notes, referring to their phones and goofing around in the studio while the song developed from nebulous idea to a fully-formed work of art, ready for mass consumption.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe video is a good snapshot of what its like to be in this band,\u201d Ramsey says. \u201cIt\u2019s a very collaborative, constant discussion about what the next move is, what the next song is, what the next album will be like.<\/p>\n

In fact, the origin story of that song specifically offers another glimpse into the democratic conceptualization the band employs as often as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe usually look for the collective agreement when deciding how a song should end up,\u201d Ramsey explains. \u201c\u2018One Man Band\u2019 was a song we had worked on a little before the studio. It had more of a reggae feel to it with more of a full-band thing. But one night before we played a show, Brad played something by himself in the dressing room and we all looked at each other, and just knew that was how the song would need to be once we got into the studio. The right path usually reveals itself to us in terms of what will work best.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The best friends. The best people. Thank you @mattkjenkins @joshosbornesongwriter @shanemcanally and @trosen41 for continually taking time out of your busy schedules to help me raise money for those in need where I grew up. Your music and laughter reach further than you realize.<\/a><\/p>\n

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