Old Dominion Announces Deeply Personal Sixth Album "Barbara." A Celebration of Life, Legacy, and Letting Go
- All Country News
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
After a jam-packed year of headlining festivals, winning awards, and even opening their own bar, Old Dominion is ready to turn the spotlight back where it belongs: the music. According to a press release, the band’s highly anticipated sixth studio album, Barbara, is set to arrive this August, and it’s their most introspective and heartfelt offering yet.
Named in tribute to both fans and the rich songwriting roots that anchor their journey, Barbara is a 13-track deep dive into what it means to live with gratitude, face life’s fragility head-on, and still dance through it all with hooks that won't quit.
“We didn’t want to get all heavy,” frontman Matthew Ramsey admits in the press release, “but I think the feeling good means more when you’re looking life straight in the eye.” That ethos drives the album forward—capturing the joy, pain, and everything in between that comes with growing older and wiser.
Old Dominion, comprised of Ramsey, guitarist/vocalist Brad Tursi, keyboardist/vocalist Trevor Rosen, bassist Geoff Sprung, and drummer Whit Sellers, crafted Barbara alongside longtime collaborator Shane McAnally. Known for their signature blend of harmony-laced country-pop, the band pushes their sonic boundaries a little further this time around, pairing radio-ready melodies with deeper reflections on love, mortality, and meaning.
The record opens with “Making Good Time,” a percussive, life-affirming anthem that sweeps listeners from youthful recklessness to a place of steady, self-aware optimism. And that’s just the beginning. The album then rides emotional highs and lows through standout tracks like the swaggering “Break Your Mama’s Heart,” the reflective “Me Most Nights,” and the soulful tribute “Miss You Man” an elegy for a friend gone too soon.
According to the press release, Barbara is more personal than anything the band has released before. “So many incredible things have happened, but so much life has also happened,” Ramsey reflects. “People pass away, chapters close, people fall in love… and yeah, obviously health challenges, if you read People. When we write for other artists, we’re chasing the best song in the moment. But when we write for Old Dominion, especially this time, we’re bringing more of ourselves into the room.”
That vulnerability takes center stage in tracks like the poetic “Man or the Song,” which grapples with purpose and identity, and the nostalgic closer “Goodnight Music City,” a loving nod to the vanishing spirit of a once-tight songwriting community.
But Barbara doesn’t dwell in darkness, it finds the light. The shimmering “Sip in the Right Direction” and the breezy “Crying in a Beach Bar” remind us that healing often comes with a smile (and maybe a frozen drink or two). Even the heartbreak anthems like the stunning “Late Great Heartbreak” land with the kind of grace that only comes from experience.
The album announcement comes on the heels of Old Dominion’s latest milestone: the upcoming launch of their How Good Is That 2025 – World Tour, kicking off this weekend. Between final mix approvals and tour rehearsals, the band is charging full speed ahead toward a new era, one filled with honesty, heart, and a healthy dose of hope.
Known for penning mega-hits for Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Blake Shelton, and more, Old Dominion continues to redefine modern country with a sound that slips seamlessly between rock, pop, and twangy authenticity. With Barbara, they’re not only raising the bar, they’re raising their voices in celebration of the lives they’ve lived, the people they’ve loved, and the music that’s gotten them through it all.
Full Tracklist for Barbara:
Making Good Time
Water My Flowers
Me Most Nights
Man or the Song
Break Your Mama’s Heart
Miss You Man
Talk Country
Late Great Heartbreak
Crying in a Beach Bar
One of Us
What Doesn’t Kill A Memory
Sip in the Right Direction
Goodnight Music City
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