Billy Currington nabbed his first Top 10 hit in 2003 with his debut single, "Walk a Little Straighter." The song was a personal one, with Currington taking inspiration from his complicated relationship with his alcoholic stepfather in order to write the track.

The singer says that the personal resonance of "Walk a Little Straighter" made it that much more meaningful when it became the first song of his to hit country radio. Read on as Currington recalls the story of the very first time he heard the track on the radio.

[It was in] 2003. I was leaving a writing weekend with Casey Beathard, [who was] the actual guy I wrote the song "Walk a Little Straighter" with [along with Carson Chamberlain]. It was my first song.

So I left Casey in Florida, and I was headed back up to Savannah, Ga., and about halfway through, I started picking up the local radio station. The [DJ] said, "Hey, a hometown guy, Billy Currington, has a brand-new song," and then it came on.

There's a feeling behind that. It was an amazing feeling. It did [have extra resonance because it was such a personal song]; it meant a lot to me.

And it was a song I started when I was a kid, and I wasn't even a songwriter when I was a kid -- I was just writing. I didn't know what songwriting was. But I remembered that [song] and finished it when I was older, with Casey. Just to hear that come out after all them years, it was amazing.

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