Dalton Dover‘s life could have gone in an entirely different direction. The Georgia native found himself a teenage father, and did the only thing he knew to do: drop out of high school to support his growing family.

“I just felt like I had no other choice,” Dover reveals on Southern Living‘s Biscuits & Jam podcast. “I was welcoming my baby girl into the world and I knew I just had to make money somehow. … I had to step up and do what I had to do. And even though nobody really agreed with me, they all were there for me, praying for my succes. My whole family played a big part in getting me through those times, and no way was it easy, but we made it through pretty good.”

Dover can say that now, but at the time he admits the situation made him grow up fast, and he wasn’t sure what the final outcome would be.

“There were times where I didn’t even know if I was gonna be able to pay the power bill or even pay the rent,” Dover admits. “I was working a job making $9 an hour. I was not making that good of money. I would play shows, but my shows really weren’t paying that much, ’cause nobody was coming to see me. So, it definitely made me beyond my years, for sure. I always listened to older songs. So, whenever it comes to my songwriting, it definitely inspires my songwriting.”

As Dover’s crowds began to grow, and his music became more and more popular, the singer-songwriter was able to secure more and more gigs, including playing at Blake Shelton‘s Ole Red Orlando and Ole Red Gatlinburg, as well as a residency at Ole Red Nashville. Little did he know that it would be Shelton who would offer him the invitation of a lifetime: to make his debut at the Grand Ole Opry, a place he dreamed about performing at for years.

“Everybody was acting really weird for some reason,” Dover recalls. “My manager was even acting weird. And I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ My band was like, ‘Dude, I don’t know what’s going on.’ They didn’t know anything either. So, we’re playing my song, ‘You Got a Small Town.’ It’s the first song on our set. And right after the song was done, the phone started ringing and I knew when the phone rang that Blake was calling in, right? So, when I saw Blake on the screen, I felt like I knew what was gonna happen. I just started crying. I’m a big baby, dude. So, I just started crying. It was really cool.”

Dover made his Opry debut on December 3, a memory that he says will forever be etched in his mind.

“Words just really don’t do it justice,” Dover admits. “It was almost like, ‘How can a stage feel like this?’ I played a lot of stages and I’ve never stepped on a stage or walked into a building that has that … It’s almost just magical. To a country artist like me, this is my dream. So, I’m walking out here, and I step in the circle for the first time, and I look out at the ocean of people and I see my mom, I see my wife, my two kids were there. My grandpa, everybody is sitting right there and I felt like Keith Whitley … [was] just standing right up there with me, if that tells you anything.”

Dover’s single, “Giving Up On That,” is out now. He is joining Chase Rice for part of his Way Down Yonder Tour. Find music and tour dates at DaltonDoverOfficial.com.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of EB Media / Jason Myers