Rising country newcomer Dalton Dover continues to earn accolades and benchmarks among a series of milestones in a pivotal year as Pandora names him a 2023 Artist to Watch while CMT welcomes him as a member of their 2023 LISTEN UP class. UK fans will be able to see what the fuss is about in March when he makes he’s debut on English soil playing the CMA Songwriters night at the C2C festival in London.
Earlier this month, Dover made his Grand Ole Opry debut with a performance of two new songs, ‘Giving Up On That’ and ‘Dirt Roads And Jesus’ the latter being the first single he will release in 2023 via Universal Music Group Nashville/Mercury Records, who he signed with earlier this year.
“I never thought in a million years that I’d be standing right here in this circle,” Dover shared on stage. “I brought my family last year, and we walked through on the tour here at the Opry. Little did I know that a year later, I’d be making my Opry debut. It’s pretty special to say the least.”
In August, Dover was on the final night of his Ole Red residency, performing across the Nashville, Gatlinburg and Orlando locations, when legendary country artist Blake Shelton dialed in on the red phone at Ole Red Nashville and interrupted Dover’s set with an invitation to make his Grand Ole Opry debut. He tearfully accepted, replying, “I’ll be there, I promise.”
His debut invitation was a full circle moment for Dover, as Shelton marked one of the first milestones in his career on Season 16 of “The Voice,” where the Georgia native earned a chair turn from the coach for his performance of Keith Whitley’s ‘Don’t Close Your Eyes.’
After being named a 2022 Spotify Artist to Watch, he released ‘Hear About A Girl’. He followed the song with ‘Damn Good Life’. Dover has honed his captivating live show with two performances at CMA Fest, opening for Luke Comb’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium show in Atlanta, Ga. and joining Priscilla Block’s Welcome To The Block Party Tour. In 2023, he prepares to make his international debut in March at C2C: Country to Country Festival’s CMA Songwriters Series before joining Chase Rice on the Way Down Yonder Tour in April.
