We take you behind the scenes and explore the making of one of our favorite tunes with The Song Remembers When…
In 2013, Billy Currington reached the top of the chart with “Hey Girl.” It was written by Rhett Akins, Chris DeStefano, and Ashley Gorley in 2011.
It was the first time Rhett had ever written with Chris and Ashley. Now, Ashley and Rhett both lived in Nashville, but Chris lived in Los Angeles. Because Chris was a pop songwriter from L.A., Rhett assumed that the session would be focused on writing a pop song that they could pitch to Kelly Clarkson or somebody but that didn’t happen because Chris came to town to write a country song.
It was Ashely who had the title “Hey Girl.” Chris immediately has a melody mapped out. Rhett describes the song as a story about a guy who wants to pick up a girl he meets, but he just can’t come up with a good pick-up line – all he can say is “Hey, girl.”
The song found its way to the A&R man at Billy Currington’s record label, and he knew this thing would be perfect for Billy. And, you know what, he was right – the song went straight to number one!
So, this week’s The Song Remembers When is Billy Currington’s seventh chart-topping hit, “Hey Girl.”