Having multi-platinum albums, hit singles and sold-out tours for many artists means living in the lap of luxury, but not for Dan + Shay. Both Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney reveal that they still do their own yard work, even though they could easily afford to hire an entire staff.
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"I still gotta to do it myself," Smyers says. "Luckily, we do the Nashville weekend warrior thing on tour, so we're only gone for a few days at a time. So on Sundays when I get back, I'm mowing for sure. But if we're gone for an extended period of time we've got a good friend. Actually, we met him through Ernest, the country artist and songwriter, but I guess they went to high school together. He owns a landscaping company, so we do have a guy."
Smyers prefers to do the yard work himself, but will reach out to Ernest's friend if the grass gets too high. For Smyers, it's partly economical, and partly because he admits he is "very, very particular" about his yard.
Mooney is similar to Smyers. The father of four also prefers to take care of his yard himself, although unlike Smyers, he does rely on some form of outside help.
"I have somebody that comes and makes sure it's cut and all that kind of stuff. But every chance that I get, I try to mow my own grass," Mooney reveals. He adds that he had a bit of an "obsession" after seeing how well Smyers takes care of his year. "I went to Home Depot and I got a new weed eater and all that kind of stuff. I wanted to make sure I was keeping up with manicuring my lawn."
Dan + Shay's Lengthy Musical History
Dan + Shay have been a duo for more than a decade. Their debut Where It All Began album came out in 2014. But before they were country music superstars, they were aspiring singer-songwriters, like many of their peers. In fact, Smyers still, miraculously, has the paper that holds the lyrics to the first song they wrote together.
"We were out on the Harpeth River," Smyers recalls. "We were canoeing or kayaking with a bunch of friends. This was early days. We're just running around being crazy, and we were out there. And for some reason I had this in a backpack, and Shay and I were in this canoe. We tipped the canoe, everything went into the water, and this lyric sheet somehow survived."
Dan + Shay's latest album, Bigger Houses, was released in 2023. They are reportedly working on a new project.
