These country stars are coming to Pendleton. It’s not too late to get tickets

Matthew Ramsey wrote his first song when he about 13.

“I had a guitar that I didn’t really know how to play,” he recalled.

Since he wasn’t quite skilled enough yet to strum the songs he was hearing on the radio, “I immediately started trying to create music of my own,” he said.

He hasn’t stopped since.

Ramsey is an accomplished songwriter who’s penned hits for stars from Luke Bryan to Dierks Bentley. He’s also frontman of Old Dominion, the breakout country band that’s seen its music shoot to the top of the country charts.

Old Dominion is kicking off the Pendleton Round Up with a concert Sept. 8.

Along with Ramsey, the group — known for songs from “Break up with Him” to “Written in the Sand” — includes lead guitarist Brad Tursi, multi-instrumentalist Trevor Rosen, Geoff Sprung on bass and Whit Sellers on drums.

The guys recently won the ACM Award for vocal group of the year.

Although they’re on tour, they’ve been writing new music lately.

For Ramsey, inspiration can come anywhere.

“I had a long flight (recently) — it wasn’t even that long, it was a three-hour flight — I wrote a couple songs in my head,” he said.

That goes to show that sometimes crafting a new tune is meticulous work, and other times “you just fly along,” he said.

For Ramsey, it’s special to watch a song go from a melody you work out while cruising along, to a hit that makes crowds cheer and sing.

“That’s what you want — to know the song is connecting with people. When you hear a crowd singing it louder than you, that’s something,” Ramsey said.

He’s excited to perform in Pendleton — and to be making music for a living.

“We’re really grateful for our lives right now. I think you can see that when we step out on the stage — that we’re grateful to be there and have an audience,” Ramsey said. “We just want to put on a great show for you.”

The Pendleton show is at Happy Canyon Arena.

Tickets start at $46 and are available by calling 800-45-RODEO or going to pendletonroundup.com.

This story was originally published August 26, 2018 at 10:37 AM.