Dan + Shay‘s “From the Ground Up” was released just over two years ago, but the song is still an important one for the country duo. At a recent No. 1 party in Nashville for that song and their single “How Not To,” group members Shay Mooney and Dan Smyers shared the story behind “From the Ground Up,” which they co-wrote with Chris DeStefano.
Smyers explained that after returning from his grandfather’s funeral in Ohio, he met up with Mooney and DeStefano to work on another track. During a break in recording, they started talking about their grandparents and completely changed directions.
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“I was talking about my grandparents after getting back from their house, they were married
for over 65 years and Shay was like, ‘That’s crazy, man. My grandparents were married for over 65 years as well,’” Smyers said. “We just were talking about them and how incredible that is.”
The duo said that the song “wrote itself” in about 45 minutes, though they admitted “From the Ground Up” was originally started as a Christmas song.
“I don’t know why we were talking about the snow,” Smyers said. “We had the title, ‘From the Ground Up’… It was an interesting metaphor talking about snow building from the ground up to building a relationship of 65 years. We got about three lines in and we were like we should make this a real song, this feels special.”
After recording a demo, the pair knew the song was an important one.
“I remember being so emotional about it because it was an emotional day,” Smyers said. “We finished it and it felt like we had something. I remember I called my girlfriend at the time, my wife now, Abby, over at the studio and made her listen and she cried. At that point, we knew this could be something special.”
Since releasing the song, “From the Ground Up” has made a major impact on listener’s lives, with some fans even using it as their wedding song.
“We’ve had so many people reach out on social media and at shows and say, ‘Hey we got married, this was our first dance song,’ and that’s the coolest thing in the entire world,” Smyers said. “That’s the biggest moment in someone’s life and to have our music attached to it is just incredible.”
Photo Credit: Twitter / @DanAndShay
