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Today's catch of the day comes from an artist who first auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry when he was still a junior in high school.

Billy Currington failed that audition, but it stoked the fires of a country music passion, leading to him moving to Nashville soon after his graduation from Effingham County High School. His first stint in Music City didn't last long, and he returned home to Rincon, GA, where he began performing regularly at the Cavalier Country Club, while keeping his "day jobs" as a concrete worker and a personal trainer. It was one of Currington's personal training clients convinced him to record a demo tape of his music.

Currington's demo made the rounds in Nashville, leading to some of the songs being recorded by George Strait, Tracy Byrd and others. This got him the attention of both RCA Mercury Records, with Currington signing with Mercury in 2003. Soon after, his self-titled debut was released, led by the single "Walk A Little Straighter", a song he wrote about his relationship with his step-father; the song included a chorus that Currington wrote when he was just 12 years old.

Billy Currington arrives at "Broadway Meets Country" Benefit Concert
Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images
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With "Walk A Little Straighter" and a second single from the album, "I Got A Feelin'" both cracking the top-5, Currington became a marketable Nashville property. He next appeared on the song "Party For Two" with Shania Twain, from her Greatest Hits album, and gave the young artist his third straight top-10 hit. his 2005 album, Doin' Something Right produced his first two number 1 hits, the title track and "Good Directions as well as the top-20 single "Why, Why, Why".

In 2007, as preparations for a tour to support a forthcoming third album were underway, Currington was forced to cancel tour plans in order to recover from laryngitis. His single at the time, "Tangled Up" stalled at #30, becoming is only single to date to not crack the top-15. Currington became MIA, not releasing another single for almost a year. His next single, "Don't" was released in July of 2008. His third album, Little Bit of Everything, was postponed until October of 2008. The album produced not only "Don't", which peaked at #2 on the Billboard country chart, but the #1 hits "People Are Crazy" and "That's How Country Boys Roll', his first #1 as a writer.

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Currington released two more albums, 2010's Enjoy Yourself and 2013's We Are Tonight", with each producing a number one. Currington's sixth studio album, Summer Forever, was released on June 2nd; the first single, "Don't It" recently topped the charts. The next single from the album is in the spotlight today. Billy Currington and "Drinkin' Town with a Football Problem" is our Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.

 

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