Old Dominion made history at a legendary venue in Music City.
The “I Was On A Boat That Day” band played a record-setting seven shows at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee, the most consecutive shows ever played in the venue’s history. Old Dominion’s 7 for 7 Ryman Residency raised more than $1.25 million for seven charities: MusiCares, Save The Music, backline, CMA Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Opry Trust Fund and the Ramsey Foundation. The residency took place earlier this month, and included surprise guests Charles Kelley, Kenny Chesney, Brothers Osborne and others at different shows.
“We have so many people to thank! But, even better is we have so many people to celebrate and share this with,” Old Dominion said after wrapping up the seven shows. “We knew it would be a blast, and we hoped we’d help our favorite charities. But man, this is more than we could’ve ever expected.”
The band — made up of Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Geoff Sprung, and Brad Tursi — also celebrated the 7 for 7 Ryman Residency by releasing “Making Good Time” on Friday, February 7. The upbeat anthem is the group’s first song to release since their Odie’s But Goodies album arrived in September. The 31-track album is a collection of some of Old Dominion’s biggest hits and fan-favorite deep cuts throughout their career.
Old Dominion recently marked another historic victory when they won the Vocal Group of the Year Award for the seventh consecutive time at the 58th CMA Awards in November. Ramsey said in a heartfelt acceptance speech on the Bridgestone Arena stage that evening:
“Wow. …We just made history. This I crazy that we — I was just gonna say, I don’t know how we got here, but then I thought that I do know how, and that’s the very nature of being in a band, is working together. And we’ve collaborated with each other, and with songwriters, and our management, and our label, and our fashion and our families and our friends, and anyone that we’ve ever said ‘I love you’ to has brought us here to this moment. And it’s a really beautiful moment for us. Thank you so much. And all the bands that are, that came before (us) — The Oak Ridge Boys, man, Alabama, Lady A, Little Big Town, Zac Brown — all those guys that paved the way for us. All the new guys that are out there — Red Clay, we see you… It’s a really beautiful thing to be in a band, so, if you are an artist of any type, or a creator, a musician, this is when the world needs you the most, when it’s weird, like it is right now. So, get out there and get together and create. we’re going to figure out a way to celebrate this in a big way. Thank you guys so much for this gift.”