The country duo spoke with ET at the 2024 ACM Awards.
Dan + Shay are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their debut album -- and taking a moment to reflect.
The country duo -- Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney -- spoke with ET's Rachel Smith at the 2024 ACM Awards on Thursday night, and they reflected on the milestone release of 2014's Where It All Began -- which was recently rereleased on vinyl to celebrate the anniversary.
"It was a full circle moment to hear that album that started everything on vinyl," Smyers reflected. "It was, I don't know, kind of emotional."
"I think we have a new gratitude for what we get to do," Mooney added. "There was points in our career where we didn't know if we'd do this together anymore."
"We pushed through all that [and] like any relationship, it's gotten so much stronger," he added. "To be able to be here now, it's just a completely different ball game. I mean, we're so grateful that we get to still be here getting to do this and having way more fun than we ever have, so I'm grateful for that."
In addition to their musical milestone, the duo is also celebrating another first this year. They joined The Voice season 25 as the first-ever coaching duo -- and are competing in next week's finale with a country singer of their own, Karen Waldrup.
They'll be facing off against more of The Voice's star-studded coaches, including Reba MeEntire, and the pair couldn't help but rave about the country music legend -- who also served as this year's ACMs host.
"Reba's the best. She's killing it right now, she's everywhere," Smyers marveled.
"She's absolutely killing the game. She's been doing this for so long but she still carries herself with so much grace, so much humility," he continued, adding with a laugh, "I mean she treats us so good and she doesn't have to."
For her part, McEntire had noting but praise for Dan + Shay when ET spoke with the season 25 coaches ahead of the premiere.
"They give great notes. They're really good," she praised. "They're knowledgeable about the business, but they also have a lot of heart and that's what they're going for."
Dan + Shay said at the time that they've been fans of the show for years -- they served as mentors for Blake Shelton's team back in season 20 and even stepped in to guest coach Niall Horan's team last season -- but noted that getting to serve as full-time coaches for the first time has been a whole new experience.
"It's changed everything for us," Shay admitted. "I just really enjoy the process of getting to work with these artists, and you really, you get attached. It becomes heartbreaking when you have to let people go, but it's been an amazing experience."
The 59th Academy of Country Awards streamed live on Prime Video. The Voice's two-part season 25 finale airs live Monday and Tuesday, May 20 & 21, at 8 p.m. PT/ET on NBC.
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