ACM Awards: Old Dominion Reflects on ‘Really Good’ Group of the Year Win

Old Dominion took home the ACM Award for Group of the Year, beating out Lady Antebellum, LANCO, Little Big Town and Midland to take home the honor. Their award, which was not televised, was given to them by their good friend, and frequent collaborator, songwriter Shane McAnally.

“We feel really good,” lead singer Matt Ramsey shared with PopCulture.com and other media backstage after their win. “We don’t really pay too much attention to why we won or when we won. It just feels really good. This was a big year for us. We just try to take it year by year, and this was a really big year for us. We felt good coming in. We feel good going out.”

Big year, indeed. Old Dominion had a No. 1 hit with “Hotel Key,” from their sophomore Happy Endings album. They also wrapped up their Happy Endings Tour, and immediately launched into their Make It Sweet Tour, selling out venues all over the country.

“I remember at the beginning of this tour, we played our first show in Chicago at this big arena, 10,000 people and it sold out,” Ramsey recalled. “We walked into it going, ‘This is so much bigger.’ It’s a much bigger scale. Our crew is bigger … It’s been an unbelievable year so far.”

Happy Endings might be less than two years old, but Old Dominion is already eager to release their next album, which includes their current single, “Make It Sweet,” already in the Top 5.

“We just hope to put out this next album, which feels very special to us, and we’re very excited about,” Ramsey said of their plans moving forward. “We want to see where that takes us. I do think it can take us somewhere much bigger.”

Old Dominion has had a string of successes, but it didn’t come without a lot of hard work. After years of playing bars and small venues, their string of hits and concerts is still a bit surreal for the five band members.

“We spent so long working on this,” Ramsey told Billboard. “Getting told no and turned down, we had built up this self-defense-type of attitude. Things started happening, and we started being like, ‘Yeah, that’s cool. It’s cool for now, but it’s never going to last.’ Now we can’t really deny this anymore. We’re winning big awards. We have a bunch of hit songs. Our crowds are amazing.”

Old Dominion is currently on their Make It Sweet Tour. Find dates by visiting their website.

Photo Credit: Getty images/Jason Davis