Old Dominion Opens Up About Their ‘Most Personal Album’ Yet, ‘Barbara’ [Exclusive]

Today, Old Dominion releases their sixth studio album, Barbara, a 13-track project that highlights the band’s signature guitar-driven sound and heartfelt storytelling. While the band has built a catalog of addicting hooks and high-energy anthems, they are stepping into a new chapter and leaning into their softer, emotional sides on what they call their “most personal album to date.”

Speaking with Country Now ahead of the highly-anticipated arrival, the members of Old Dominion admitted they didn’t set out to create a collection of deeply personal songs. It just happened naturally as they took the time to reflect on their real experiences with the ups and downs of life, love, heartbreak and mortality.

Old Dominion’s lead singer, Matt Ramsey shared, “I think it’s just really where we are as songwriters and as men in our lives, and it just kind of came out that way,” he shared with us. “I think we were just trying to pick the best songs that we could and things that we were excited about doing and we’re much more comfortable writing about that kind of thing. I don’t know that we even knew we made such a personal record until we were done, and everybody was like, wow, this is really personal and we’re going, ‘you’re right. It is.’”

“I think we’ve never been probably more comfortable with vulnerability than we are now just as human beings. So nothing’s off the table,” Brad Tursi added.

Tapping Into Vulnerable Messages

It doesn’t get much more vulnerable and personal than tracks like “Man or the Song” and “Miss You Man.” Even though these songs have very different storylines, the band members find themselves wearing their hearts on their sleeves in hopes of connecting with fans on a deeper level.

Ramsey explains that “Man Or The Song,” which offers a powerful look inside an artist’s mind, almost ended up on a previous project, but they wanted to make sure it got its chance to stand out.

“We just felt so strongly about how good that song was that we didn’t want it to get lost, so we held onto it. And there’s a lot of times we do that. There are songs that we hold onto and then we get burned out on before they ever make it onto a project. We start evaluating, we would write other things, but that one always stayed at the top of the list. We always knew that that was going to go on there,” he shared.

Exploring The Emotions Of A Breakup

The 8X ACM and 7X CMA “Group of the Year” pours some of that same heaviness into their latest round of breakup songs. “Water My Flowers” captures the fight of loneliness despite trying to put yourself out there, while “Me Most Nights,” finds a brokenhearted soul drowning in self-reflection, “One Of Us” sings to those who’ve encountered a bittersweet breakup situation and “Sip in the Right Direction” highlights the value of a small step toward healing.

But it wouldn’t be a true Old Dominion song with some easy-going, sing-along worthy lyrics like the ones listeners will find on “Late Great Heartbreak,” “Talk Country” and “Break Your Mama’s Heart.”

Finding The Perfect Sequence

Old Dominion’s Trevor Rosen, shared his belief that the first and last song on any album is arguably the most important (and easiest) part of the decision-making process. For Barbara, they opted for a good mix of sounds that have been with them since day one and elements that pushed the envelope for them creatively. The project kicks things off with the catchy anthem, “Making Good Time,” and ends with a nod to their journey in Nashville with “Goodnight Music City.”

“It’s funny when you’re sequencing an album, to me the easiest one is the first one and the last one. Especially the last one, it’s like, Meat and Candy. It was like we got it right. There’s always that one that just seems to complete the journey and that one, we love that song so much and it was very reflective,” he said of “Goodnight Music City.” “I mean, we’ve been in Nashville trying to do this for a long time and we’ve watched the city grow and we’ve watched it change and we’ve lived through it all. And so it was a nod to this city that’s birthed this band, and so musically, it just felt like the perfect finishing touch on the album.”

Landing On The Title, “Barbara”

Along with coming up with the track list and the sequencing, the band faced the task of finding the perfect title for the album. Ramsey explained that their goal has always been to find a way to stretch their creativity and that was no different with this project. Narrowing down their long list of potential titles was no easy feat, and many, like Barbara, fell into the “joke” category of the running list.

“We just kind of thought it would be fun to give it a person’s name and see where that could take us, and Barbara was the one that we were all excited about,” Ramsey explained.

Eventually, the vision for the cover art followed, resulting in a photo of an older woman sitting at the hair salon decked out in her chunky jewelry and all-pink ensemble, smoking a cigarette without a care in the world.

Ramsey continued, “They sent us a list of a bunch of hand shots for models once we kind of explained what we wanted on the cover. We described this character to the team, and they went out and found a bunch of models and sent us a list, and we all were very quickly unanimous on she was the right one. So she’s a very sweet lady in real life and she’s very excited to be on the cover.”

The arrival of Old Dominions sixth studio album comes just shy of the 10^th anniversary of their acclaimed debut album Meat and Candy. In the years between their first and most recent collection, the members share that they have each grown in their own ways as well as collectively as a band. They’ve gained confidence in taking risks, elevated their sound and have to lean into vulnerability when it comes to songwriting.

The group has gotten the chance to celebrate their new release with fans while on their massive How Good Is That – World Tour. This trek has taken over amphitheaters and arenas nationwide this summer and will continue into the fall with upcoming shows in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the UK and more.