Delivering a bright, polished sound that owes as much to contemporary pop as anything in the classic country handbook, Dan + Shay is the country singing and songwriting duo of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney. Both began playing music as teenagers, with Smyers (born and raised in Wexford, Pennsylvania) discovering songwriting at the age of 14, then learning the guitar at the age of 16, and Mooney (born and raised in Natural Dam, Arkansas) writing and playing music from the age of 12. The pair met in Nashville in December of 2012 and immediately began writing songs and performing together. Developing a bright and contemporary country-pop sound, the duo was signed to Warner Bros. Nashville, which released an infectious debut single, “19 You + Me,” a song the duo wrote with Danny Orton, in the summer of 2013. “19 You + Me” peaked at seven on Billboard’s country chart. In the spring of 2014, Dan + Shay dropped their debut album, Where It All Began, which included “19 You + Me.” “Show You Off” went to 29 in 2014 and, after the seasonal single “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” it was followed by “Nothin’ Like You,” a single that peaked at five on the country chart. It set the stage for Dan + Shay’s next album, Obsessed. Released in June of 2016, it was preceded by the single “From the Ground Up,” which reached nine on the Billboard country chart earlier that year. Two other singles — “How Not To” and “Already Ready,” both reaching the mid-20s on Billboard — followed in 2016. Early in 2017, Dan + Shay released “When I Pray for You,” a song recorded for the faith-based film The Shack. ~ Steve Leggett
