ABC/Randy Holmes
After two weeks at the top of the country chart with “Tequila,” Dan + Shay are poised to follow Florida Georgia Line and Maren Morris with a hit on the pop chart.
But Dan Smyers is quick to point out the crossover success of “Tequila” won’t signal any change of direction for the pair. In fact, he and Shay Mooney hope it will bring new fans over to the country side.
“First and foremost, we’re country artists…” Dan points out. “We’re making country music, that’s what we grew up listening to. That’s what we want to continue to do. But with a crossover hit, I feel like it’s a really cool opportunity for us to spread country music to people who may not have listened to it before.”
He continues: “There’s gonna be somebody out there listening to a mainstream pop station [and think] ‘I really like that song.’ And they’re gonna dig in on a country playlist…or tune in to their local country station and maybe fall in love with some older country music or some other stuff that’s similar to us.”
Dan + Shay are particularly happy the pop success of “Tequila” just happened, without any changes or forethought from them.
“It’s not like we alienated our sound to get that crossover…” Dan explains. “We just…made a Dan + Shay record and we’re so thankful that people outside of the format are taking it in…”
Even though the song’s only been on the pop chart a few weeks, Dan + Shay are already seeing new fans at their concerts.
“We’ve had people come out to shows already…and say, ‘Man, I’ve never been to a country show, but everybody here is so happy…’ So hopefully we can grow the format a little bit.”
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
