Features
Dan + Shay
Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney are working on their third No. 1 single in a row, “How Not To.” Their first album, Where It All Began, debuted at No. 1 and their second album, Obsessed, was named by the fans who couldn’t wait to hear it.
Scott Legato / RockStarProPhotography.com – Dan + Shay
Yet, there’s an argument that the live music is where it’s really at.
“I think they’re outselling tickets versus where they are on the radio charts,”
“They work so hard meeting everybody when they do a show. It’s a culmination of all three things: of them being great live, of them having a radio story that keeps developing, and then doing the extra things that not everybody does – shaking every hand, signing every picture. I think that’s what it takes these days to take it to the next level.”
It is these attributes that Krones cites when explaining why Dan + Shay sold 500 tickets in Atlanta and then sold out 1,300 tickets for their return in February.
“I don’t think a lot of bands get to do that, where it doubles or triples every time you play a market,” he said.
The singer/songwriters met in December 2012 and realized immediately they would be friends and musical partners – much like how Rascal Flatts realized there was something there as soon as they got into the same room and harmonized. In fact, the first song they wrote together went to Rascal Flatts.
“I do feel there is a little bit of living up to Rascal Flatts, having that super-accessible pop country,” Krones said. “And it’s winning. All these dates are going to sell out; people will be lining up before they start, waiting in line with signs trying to get in.”
Scott Legato / RockStarProPhotography.com – Dan + Shay
Dan + Shay has headline dates booked through April, before hitting the summer festival season that includes Stagecoach and Country Thunder. There’s even a jaunt overseas for the “Country 2 Country Festival” in London and