Matthew Ramsey and Trevor Rosen of Old Dominion called into The Bobby Bones Show today (June 26) to talk about their new EP, Memory Lane, and possibly write a song for Bobby Bones.
Memory Lane, the new EP from Old Dominion is out now and features eight new songs and their current single, “Memory Lane” is in the Top 5 on the charts at country radio right now. They wrote the song with GRAMMY nominated songwriter, Jessie Jo Dillon, and described it as one of those songs that just effortlessly came together. Band member Brad Tursi, had a guitar lick he was playing over and over, and Dillon had the title "Memory Lane" in her note's app, and they started throwing out ideas until someone said, “If I could buy a house on memory lane.” They then all started reminiscing and it went line from line after that. Ramsey said they weren’t writing around a hook; they were in it emotionally. They released the EP now instead of a full record because they’re not done with the full project yet. The eight new songs that are out now will be part of a larger project that they are currently working on and a lot of new music will be out soon.
Bones knows that the members of Old Dominion are talented songwriters, so he suggested a song idea he came up with called “Breakfast For Dinner.” He thinks you shouldn’t eat breakfast for dinner, but the song is about being so in love with someone you’d do anything for them, including eat breakfast for dinner. Bones wants Old Dominion to finish the idea and give him songwriting credit on it, but they didn’t seem to love the song lyric that much. Ramsey said that sometime song idea pitches get turned down, but that does not mean they won’t work, it just means they aren’t the right person for the song. He recalled when he pitched their song “Song For Another Time” to ten different writers and they all turned it down. It later became a number one hit for him.
Over the last few years, Ramsey has had a number of serious injuries. In 2021 he broke a rib and suffered from a collapsed lung after he fell off a ladder changing a light bulb. And back in March of this year he fractured his pelvis in an ATV accident that caused the band to postpone their tour. He joked that he got a call from his manager saying he should up his life insurance, but he thinks he is in the clear now with injuries for the next couple of years.
Old Dominion is currently back on their No Bad Vibes Tour and have approached looking for their opening acts in a different way. They used to try and find someone who could do the whole tour, but now they are looking for people who they know their fans will like, even if it means they can only do a few shows on the tour. Most importantly, they want the tour to live up to its name, so they look for artists who don’t bring any bad energy and give off good vibes. Old Dominion has become a staple on Kenny Chesney tours, and Rosen recalled doing ice baths with his kids and Chesney backstage while he tried to talk them through it. Ramsey shared that when they were recently in Key West, they went on a boat and kept Facetiming Chesney, who got mad at them because he couldn’t talk since he was working.
Memory Lane EP is out now!