{"id":1315275,"date":"2019-10-04T07:13:10","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T13:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/?p=1812707"},"modified":"2019-10-04T07:13:10","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T13:13:10","slug":"dan-shay-cmt-artists-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/music-news\/dan-shay-cmt-artists-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan + Shay: CMT Artists of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"byline\">by <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/author\/morrise\/\" title=\"Posts by Edward Morris\" rel=\"author\">Edward Morris<\/a><\/span> <span class=\"date\">4m ago<\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s raise our glasses to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/artists\/dan-shay\">Dan + Shay<\/a>\u2019s \u201cTequila\u201d \u2014 a smash hit where drink doesn\u2019t drown memories but stirs them like embers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTequila\u201d did not \u201cmake\u201d Dan + Shay \u2014 they were doing quite nicely before it was released in 2018 \u2013but it did give them a presence they hadn\u2019t enjoyed before, not to mention a Grammy and a CMT Music Award for best video. It is, to date, their bestselling single, with more than 3 million units consumed. Now they are part of the 2019 class of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/artists-of-the-year\">CMT Artists of the Year<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"http:\/\/media.mtvnservices.com\/embed\/mgid:arc:video:cmt.com:d64ff5b5-45f2-495d-b29a-6bd146ed8b87\">media.mtvnservices.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>\u201cYeah, we love to joke with the people who told us not to put out a ballad or a song about tequila because no one drinks tequila,\u201d says Dan Smyers, who co-wrote the hit with Nicolle Galyon and Jordan Reynolds. \u201cI think a lot of people drink tequila. We kind of proved that. It just kind of reminds us to let the best song win. I feel like fans react to the lyrics and the raw emotion of what we wrote that day. They felt something from it, and it\u2019s changed our career and changed our lives in a big, big way.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c4qgqNS_20s?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c4qgqNS_20s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>Smyers and Shay Mooney immigrated to Nashville from different points of the compass (Pennsylvania and Arkansas) with the aim of distinguishing themselves in music individually. But after meeting in 2012 and writing songs together, it quickly became apparent that when they paired their voices in harmony they could create magic. The next year, the two signed with Warner Bros. Records and debuted their first single, \u201c19 You + Me,\u201d which soared into the Top 10.<\/p>\n<p>They racked up their first No. 1 single, \u201cNothin\u2019 Like You,\u201d in 2015. Then came the chart-topping \u201cFrom the Ground Up\u201d and \u201cHow Not To.\u201d They hit a bump in the road in 2017 when their \u201cRoad Trippin\u2019\u201d stalled out at No. 42. But they\u2019ve been back on the chart summit ever since with \u201cTequila,\u201d \u201cSpeechless\u201d and \u201cAll to Myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1BIQMujAwaQ?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1BIQMujAwaQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s no surprise, then, that they\u2019re knee-deep in CMA Awards nominations, specifically for vocal duo, album (Dan +Shay), song (\u201cTequila\u201d) and single (\u201cSpeechless\u201d) of the year. Besides singing and writing, Smyers also co-produces the duo\u2019s albums.<\/p>\n<p>Both men agree that their fans are the best arbiters of which album cuts should be singles. \u201cBoth of the singles on our record \u2014 \u2019Speechless\u2019 and \u2019All to Myself\u201d \u2014 were fan-voted,\u201d Smyers explains. \u201cIt was the week the album [Dan + Shay] came out. We were in Iowa and we played \u2019Speechless\u2019 live for the first time. There\u2019s a video of it, somebody filmed from the side of the stage, and it was like every fan was singing every word. This completely shifted the focus of our album. We sent [the video] back to our team at the label, and they were like, \u2019Yeah, that\u2019s probably gonna be the second single.\u2019<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7UoP9ABJXGE?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7UoP9ABJXGE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>\u201cSomebody said, \u2019Are you worried about having two ballads in a row?\u2019 And we were like, \u2019Do you see the reaction?\u2019 The same thing with \u2019All to Myself.\u2019 We put out the album and that song kind of raised its hand. The streams were going crazy on it, and we noticed the fans going wild at the shows to that song. It was kind of a nice complement to \u2019Tequila\u2019 and \u2019Speechless,\u2019 and it worked out for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"photo\" id=\"5f76866c\">\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"><noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;img&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-2018-1566591887.jpg?quality=0.85&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=480\" srcset=\"http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-2018-1566591887.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=481 481w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-2018-1566591887.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=660 660w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-2018-1566591887.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=768 768w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-2018-1566591887.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=980 980w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-2018-1566591887.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=1200 1200w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-2018-1566591887.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=1500 1500w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-2018-1566591887.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=1800 1800w\" title=\"2018 CMT Music Awards - Show\" class=\"js-srcset-img shortcode-image\" alt><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div class=\"photocredit\">Jason Kempin\/Getty Images for CMT<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>This year\u2019s been so fruitful for Dan + Shay \u2014 what with the Grammy, the CMT Music Awards video honor and an album that\u2019s stayed in the Top 5 all year \u2014 that Smyers thought it was a \u201cprank\u201d when someone told him they\u2019d also won the CMT Artist of the Year prize.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI see it every year, and it\u2019s always [going to] people who are at the top of the game and doing their thing,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re so in [the process], we\u2019re out doing, we\u2019re hustling, we\u2019re out on the road, we\u2019re in the studio. It\u2019s tough to keep things in perspective. But it\u2019s a great reminder of all the hard work we\u2019ve put in and all the hard work that our team and everybody who\u2019s believed in us have done since day one.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BV37lDcPRIQ?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BV37lDcPRIQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>Such has been the impact of \u201cTequila\u201d that the duo routinely close their show with it. \u201cThat\u2019s the craziest moment, man, when we get to that,\u201d Mooney says. \u201cI think we probably will always play that song last. Whenever we say, \u2019You know this song called \u201cTequila\u201d?\u2019 people just kind of lose their minds. It\u2019s pretty crazy to see how passionate people are about it. It\u2019s a really cool thing to be able to experience that from our perspective. We\u2019re very, very blessed to have that song. It never gets old to sing, which is a testament to how great the songwriting was.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"photo\" id=\"6418411c\">\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"><noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;img&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-on-CMT-Music-Awards-1566323581.jpg?quality=0.85&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=480\" srcset=\"http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-on-CMT-Music-Awards-1566323581.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=481 481w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-on-CMT-Music-Awards-1566323581.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=660 660w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-on-CMT-Music-Awards-1566323581.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=768 768w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-on-CMT-Music-Awards-1566323581.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=980 980w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-on-CMT-Music-Awards-1566323581.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=1200 1200w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-on-CMT-Music-Awards-1566323581.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=1500 1500w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/Dan-Shay-on-CMT-Music-Awards-1566323581.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=1800 1800w\" title=\"2019 CMT Music Awards - Show\" class=\"js-srcset-img shortcode-image\" alt><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div class=\"photocredit\">Anna Webber\/Getty Images for CMT<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As we weave our way unsteadily through Country Music\u2019s Alcohol of Fame, we stop and raise our glasses to Faron Young\u2019s \u201cWine Me Up,\u201d Willie Nelson\u2019s \u201cWhiskey River,\u201d \u201cMountain Dew\u201d and \u201cBloody Mary Morning,\u201d Merle Haggard\u2019s \u201cMisery and Gin,\u201d Tom T. Hall\u2019s \u201cI Like Beer,\u201d Earl Thomas Conley\u2019s \u201cYou Must Not Be Drinking Enough\u201d and Roger Miller\u2019s \u201cChug-a-Lug.\u201d And with such enthusiasm for \u201cTequila\u201d from all quarters, it\u2019s unlikely Dan + Shay will ever need to close their show with \u201cTonight the Bottle Let Me Down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And while we\u2019re still on the tipsy metaphor, it\u2019s time to break out the champagne and welcome \u201c10,000 Hours,\u201d Dan + Shay\u2019s just-released collaboration with pop prince Justin Bieber. Cheers to another round from this 2019 CMT Artist of the Year.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rdXTZAr1zBY?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rdXTZAr1zBY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<hr>\n<p>THE STATS<br \/>3 albums (2 No. 1\u2019s, 1 gold)<br \/>10 singles (6 No. 1\u2019s, 2 gold, 3 platinum, 1 double platinum, 1 triple platinum)<br \/>CMT Awards (duo video of the year 2018, 2019)<br \/>Grammy (best country duo or group 2019)<\/p>\n<div class=\"author\">\n<div class=\"description\">Edward Morris is a veteran of country music journalism. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a frequent contributor to CMT.com.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/1812707\/dan-shay-cmt-artists-of-the-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: CMT News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Edward Morris 4m ago Let\u2019s raise our glasses to Dan + Shay\u2019s \u201cTequila\u201d \u2014 a smash hit where drink doesn\u2019t drown memories but stirs them like embers. \u201cTequila\u201d did not \u201cmake\u201d Dan + Shay \u2014 they were doing quite nicely before it was released in 2018 \u2013but it did give them a presence they [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1315275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-13 23:56:49","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1315275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315275\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1315275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1315275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1315275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}