Old Dominion Call CMA Awards Win ‘Very Gratifying’ and ‘Validating’

Old Dominion took home the CMA Award for Vocal Group of the Year on Wednesday night, marking the band’s first-ever win.

“I think we felt pretty good, you know coming into this, but you never know,” lead singer Matthew Ramsey shared backstage at the CMA Awards. “It’s a tough category. We felt pretty good. I personally felt pretty good, right up until the moment that they opened the envelope, and I thought, ‘Eh, we don’t have it,’ and then they said our names, so it felt really, really good. It’s been really, a hell of a year for us, and so it’s very gratifying and validating that we get to finally get one of these.”

Old Dominion just celebrated another No. 1 hit, with “Hotel Key.” They also headlined their Happy Endings Tour, as well as toured with Kenny Chesney on his Trip Around the Sun Tour, and continued work on their upcoming third studio album – all proof of how far Old Dominion has already come, and how far they want to go.

“You just hope to have a moment ever, in music,” band member Trevor Rosen said. “You have one No. 1 song and you go, ‘Oh my gosh, we did it.’ Then, you want to stick around, and now it’s to the point where it’s like we actually get to hang around and do this for a living, and we get to do it for a long time. At least to us, this is longer than we ever thought it would happen that we would be doing this.

“I think what’s next is to just try to continue to make great music,” he continued. “We feel comfortable now that we could just get to make music that we love, and now we have a little bit of trust that it’s working and so we could just put that out to the world, so I think it’s just putting your music out, and feel confident that everyone’s going to like it.”

Old Dominion, who also performed “Hotel Key” during the live broadcast of the CMA Awards, say the song is a good indication of how their third record will sound.

“I think it’s the perfect snapshot of where this album is headed,” Ramsey said. “It was such a pure and honest moment, with us, because we wrote it in the studio, and we wrote it and recorded that song the same day and really captured, I think, who we are, as songwriters, right now, and who we are as musicians, right now.

“We’re just very comfortable and very confident in our place, right now, and we’re really enjoying where we are,” he continued. “Great things are happening, so that feeds our soul, and we’re just really happy with the music that we’re making. I can’t wait for you to hear it.”

Old Dominion will hit the road in 2019 for their Make It Sweet Tour, with Jordan Davis, Morgan Evans and Mitchell Tenpenny serving as the opening acts.

Old Dominion has been nominated for Vocal Group of the Year for the last thee years. This year, they shared the Vocal Group of the Year category with Lady Antebellum, LANCO, Little Big Town and Midland.

Photo Credit: Getty Images / Terry Wyatt