February Country Rookie of the Month: Dalton Dover

Over the past year, former The Voice contestant Dalton Dover has seen his TikTok videos earn millions of views, thanks to his powerful voice and penchant for covering country classics from Randy Travis, Luke Combs and Toby Keith.

Now, signed with Droptine Recordings and aligned with Underscore Works for management, Dover is setting out to win over fans with his own music.

Working with writer/producer/musician Matt McVaney (known for his work with Kane Brown) Dover recently released his debut tracks “You Got a Small Town” and the romantic ode “Baby I Am.” He was also among the newcomers highlighted by Spotify’s Hot Country 2022 Artists to Watch list.

“I’ve had the Hot Country playlist from Spotify on my phone for a while. My friends have it, everybody has it,” Dover, 23, tells Billboard. “The coolest thing is you can hear Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs — and then you can hear my songs. Coming from where I’m from, this kind of thing just doesn’t happen,” Dover says.

The Georgia native began singing in church and by the time he was in fifth grade, he was winning school talent shows. A decade later, he had started his own band, playing scores of cover songs at restaurants, local festivals and anywhere that had a stage.

“It was all for fun, just to play for people. We did that for three years. I’m super blessed and I can’t call it luck, because I feel like through playing all those four-hour gigs for $150 bucks—I played tons of them—I feel like now it’s finally paying off,” he says.

Dover’s first brush with a national audience came through his time competing on The Voice in 2019. After performing “Tennessee Whiskey” during an open call in Atlanta and making it through multiple producer rounds, Dover found himself auditioning in front of the show’s coaches, including Blake Shelton.

“You talk about nervous,” Dover recalls. “That was the first time I’ve been on that kind of stage. I sang Keith Whitley’s ‘Don’t Close Your Eyes,’ but I had my eyes closed when I was singing it. I didn’t see the chair turn around. I finally opened my eyes and saw Blake looking at me, that was crazy.”

Dover joined Shelton’s team, and though he was eliminated in the battle rounds, Dover took to heart a piece of advice from Shelton. “He told me to just always be myself, so that’s been my mindset the past few years, in working on my own music,” Dover says.

Billboard spoke with Dover about his career journey, his dream collaborations and more.

What do you recall about your first real public performance?

I was probably 11 years old, and went to Eastside Elementary School in Rockmart, Ga. I entered the talent show and sang Justin Bieber’s “Baby.” That was my first time getting a taste of performing for people. I was definitely nervous. I wasn’t going to do it, but I had some teachers and family who encouraged me to get up there and sing. When I did, I fell in love with it and never stopped.

Some of your viral TikTok videos were part of your Catch Me Off Guard series, which features you spontaneously doing snippets of cover songs. How did that come about?

It wasn’t planned out in the beginning, but the first video got like 4.5 million views. My wife Faith would ask me to just sing songs, and I would do five or six seconds of each song. I did it for a while, but life has been so busy lately. But I’m getting back to doing that.

You still live in Georgia with your family. How do you balance living in Georgia with chasing your dreams in Nashville?

I come up to Nashville a lot to work on music. It’s not easy to balance everything, but I know that if I want to achieve my goals and live the dream that I’ve been dreaming since I was 14 years old, I have to put in the effort. I’m lucky to have a family and wife that support everything that I do.

“You Got a Small Town” has lyrics about two-pump Texacos and Friday night football. Adam Craig, Jamie Paulin and John Pierce wrote it. What drew you to the song?

My producer Matt was sending me a ton of outside songs — and I probably passed on 50 songs that day, but when I heard this, I knew I could speak that truth. That song is me all the way through, and it’s special to me.

You are signed with former Sony executive Jim Catino’s Droptine Records. How did you connect with Jim?

I was doing some things on TikTok and that was changing the game for me. I had covered a Kidd G song, “Dirt Road,” and Matt McVaney had a write with Kidd G that next day. He had been doing some research on him and came across my cover. He sent me an email and asked to hang out. A month later I’m hanging out with Matt and we’d cut “Baby I Am” — and he said, “I’ve got this guy, Jim Catino, and he could play a big part in all of this.” So he connected us and the rest is history.

When you were in a band as a teenager, what were some of your go-to cover songs?

Definitely “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” Before Chris Stapleton came out with “Tennessee Whiskey,” we were playing the George Jones version. When Chris came out with his version, we kind of did a mashup of both versions. I loved doing Luke Combs’ “Beer Never Broke My Heart” and “She Got the Best of Me.”

Who are some of your dream collaborators?

First would have to be Luke Combs, but also Lainey Wilson and Ashland Craft. Breland would also be really dope.

If you were not doing music, what would you be doing?

My grandpa owns a logging business, so I might be in the woods somewhere, driving a skidder, pulling pinewood all day long and loading up trailers.

When you are on the road, what are your favorite fast-food places to stop at?

I’m not picky at all. If it’s a cheeseburger, I’ll eat it. But if I had to pick, I’d say McDonalds.

What is a TV show that you never get tired of watching?

The Walking Dead. I can watch that series over and over again and it never gets old.