Old Dominion Need ‘Time to Process’ ACM Awards Vocal Group of the Year Win

Old Dominion is the surprising ACM Award winners for Vocal Group of the Year. The five-man group, made up of Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Geoff Sprung and Brad Tursi, beat out Lady Antebellum, LANCO, Little Big Town and Midland to take home the trophy.

“It’s going to take some time. It’s going to take a little time to process,” Ramsey told PopCulture.com backstage at the ACM Awards. “It’s just kind of strange to stand in that and see it all from that perspective because we’ve been here for a few years, now, and seen it from the seats, and seen it from the stage as performers too, before. But to stand there with the little microphone, is a different thing. And to see all the people, all our peers out there, people that we’ve known for years, and people we’ve written songs for, people we’ve toured with, smiling. It means a lot. It’s going to take a little bit to set in.”

Little Big Town has won the ACM Award for Vocal Group of the Year for the last three years in a row, with Old Dominion breaking their winning streak this year. The quintet also recorded a song, “Stars in the City” with Little Big Town, on their recent Happy Endings album, and will continue to draw inspiration from LBT, regardless of who is the reigning Vocal Group of the Year.

“They’re a big part of why we’re here,” Ramsey said. “I mean, they are the rare occurrence of the sweetest people and the most talented people. And so they kind of show everyone how it’s done. We’re lucky that this year, we got it. I’m sure that next year, they will get it. But this one’s ours. And we saw them, and they were so supportive and gave us a hug and threatened to punch me in the face, all in good humor. We’re just a big family, so it’s great.”

Old Dominion will headline several of their own shows this year, as well as once again join Kenny Chesney on tour, this time on his upcoming Trip Around the Sun Tour, which kicks off on April 21. Thebusy schedule reminds Old Dominion how far they’ve come, and how far they still want to go.

“I think we always sort of have a fire under us,” Ramsey remarks. “We’ve had a fire lit under us to prove that we could do something like this. And now, you’re right, now that we’ve got it, and we’re looking at a big tour this summer, we’re looking at a big headline tour in the fall. Yes, we are not a bar band anymore, and we now know that. We have to step up a little bit. So that’s something that excites us as a band, as musicians, and as performers, and as songwriters, all that stuff. We welcome that fire.”

Happy Endings, released last August, includes two No. 1 singles, “No Such Thing as a Broken Heart” and “Written in the Sand.”Download Happy Endings on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Instagram/OldDominionMusic