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Old Dominon on top in Canada as they roll into the South Okanagan

Old Dominion brings blend of old-fashioned country charm, lyrical wit and rock ‘n’ roll grit
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It’s early days for Old Dominion and their country music tour Happy Endings but they’re kicking things off right by claiming their first number one song on Canadian music charts and playing Penticton for the first time.

Trevor Rosen, guitarist and keyboardist for the Nashville-based band said timing couldn’t be better to be starting the tour with song Written in the Sand hitting number one on Canadian country charts.

“We have a number one Canadian song while we’re in Canada, how great is that?” he said with a laugh during an phone interview with the Western News from a hotel room in Calgary.

Written in the Sand puts music and lyrics to a familiar question women and men ask when in a new a relationship: “Are we written in the stars, baby, or written in the sand?”

The song is a track off the band’s sophomore album Happy Endings released in summer 2017. The album peaked at number one on U.S. Country Charts and produced another hit single No Such Thing as a Broken Heart.

The album was followed up by acclaimed record Meat and Candy in 2015, which hailed several hits including Break Up With Him, Snapback, and Song For Another Time.

Although the five-member band, including Matthew Ramsey (lead vocals), Whit Sellers (drums), Geoff Sprung (bass guitar), Brad Tursi (guitar) and Rosen, are hitting a high note it wasn’t too long ago they were struggling to be noticed.

“I remember playing for $50 and free beer,” Rosen said. “We’ll never forget those days. There are times, we have all these employees now and multiple buses and trucks, we look at it and remember the five of us in a little minivan touring around.”

All the Old Dominion members have a long history in Nashville but as writers not frontmen.

“I grew up playing in bands. I moved to Nashville for various reasons, mostly for the writing. But I think we all dreamed of getting a record deal at one time or another. At some point we all decided we wanted to be the best writers we could.”

Members have written hit songs for country greats including Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton and many others.

Rosen said in the earlier days of the band they used to play a lot of covers, but now fans want to hear their originals.

“They want to hear us and that’s great,” he said. “We love playing music. We loved it when we were in a band and broke. We love it now and are excited all day till we get to play.”

Old Dominion plays the South Okanagan Events Centre with special guests Cold Creek County and The Washboard Union Sun., Feb. 11. Tickets available at the SOEC box office, www.ValleyFirstTix.com or by calling 1-877-SOEC-TIX.