While he grew up listening to Johnny Cash and George Strait, country singer-songwriter Devin Dawson got his start as bassist for deathcore band Shadow of the Colossus. ∙ In 2014, Dawson and college dorm-mate Louisa Wendorff’s mashup of two Taylor Swift hits (“Blank Space” and “Style”) garnered nearly 35 million views after Swift shared it with her fans. ∙ “All On Me,” his Platinum-selling debut single, not only made the Top 10 on two Country charts, but it also reached the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. ∙ His early success as a singer-songwriter earned him a New Vocalist of the Year nomination from the Academy of Country Music in 2018. ∙ Dawson, who refers to himself as “51 percent songwriter, 49 percent artist,” cowrote Blake Shelton’s chart-topping, Grammy Award-nominated single “God’s Country.”