ABC/Image Group LAThey started last year with their song “Tequila,” but in 2019, country duo Dan + Shay continued to cross over to the pop charts, first with their hit “Speechless,” and then with their Justin Bieber collaboration, “10,000 Hours.”
But as Shay Mooney explains, the duo aren’t planning to leave country music behind for a life of pop stardom.
“Dan and I are not trying to chase anything. We’re trying to write great Dan + Shay music and trying to tell a story with our music, and the more people that can hear the music is fantastic to us,” says Shay.
Shay also insists they’re not trying to make their music more palatable to the pop audience.
“Whenever Dan and I first started writing songs, we just, I think at the core of it, we wanted to tell a story,” he says. “That’s what we fell in love with.”
And if their songs are the gateway into country music for pop fans, well, Shay says that’s fine with him and Dan.
“It’s amazing to us to have people come out to meet and greets and say, ‘Man, we’ve never listened to country music before, but we’ve started listening to you guys and we’ve discovered other country acts because of that,'” he notes.
“And that’s…really amazing…it’s such a such an honor, to us, to have people say that.”
Later this month, Dan + Shay will perform at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Then in March, they’ll launch a headlining tour that’s currently scheduled through April, then resumes in September.
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