Old Dominion have worked themselves relentlessly to becoming one of the most bankable groups in country music. They effortlessly blend country, pop, and whatever they’re interested in mixing in, and have just released their latest venture, Memory Lane. The 8-s0ng EP was released just yesterday, and finds the band entering a new phase of life — especially musically — together and was co-produced by longtime collaborator Shane McAnally.
Old Dominion — consisting of lead singer/guitarist Matthew Ramsey, guitarist/keyboardist/
With EP opener “I Should Have Married You,” they lean into the ones who go away, and tackle the various stages of wanting, having, holding and regretting all the way through to the final song on the release, “Freedom Like You” — an uplifting celebration of the ones you love which has you feeling more alive than you’ve ever felt.
“We’ve been through hotel keys, one-man bands, boats for the day, meat, candy, happy endings, therapy and tequila,” says Ramsey in a press release. “We’ve put hooks on our hooks, and all kinds of sing- and clap-alongs, and we love the look on fans faces when we play all these songs live, but we’re all adults: we know life is sometimes a little more complicated.”
“We didn’t want to get all heavy and serious,” adds Tursi. “But we figured we could keep doing what we do… and maybe go a little further into thinking about life. When we started writing, started working these songs up, they felt just as good – even while going deeper.”
“You learn when you look into people’s eyes what lights them up, what gives them fire or makes them forget,” says Ramsey. “Sometimes these songs are about the absolute best escape possible. We figure if people are going to come out and spend the night with us, then from the moment we hit that stage, we want to be the best thing that happened to your week. If you’re celebrating, we want to take you and your friends to that next level. If it’s been one of those weeks, we want to get it so far in your rearview, you don’t even remember what was so bad.”
“Now that we’ve been doing this in big rooms for so long, on stadium stages with Kenny Chesney, and headlining arenas all our favorite rock bands played, we’ve figured out how a song like ‘Easier Said With Rum’ or ‘How Good Is That’ can take those things and transform the horrible into something sweet,” Rosen continues. “Though we’re still more ‘Love Drunk and Happy,’ that idea of live it, enjoy it and know how great life can be if you’ll let it. We’re that band: the one that’s grateful for every second.”
You can check out and stream the Memory Lane EP here. Old Dominion is picking up their “No Bad Vibes” tour on June 30th/July 1st with a double-header at Lake Tahoe’s Outside Arena and runs through some of the country’s most iconic arenas, festivals, and occasional stadium all the way through a three-night stand at Key West’s Coffee Butler Amphitheater March 22nd-24th, 2024.
Pick up tickets here.
