Billy Currington’s Songwriting Rule: There Are No Rules

Billy Currington is not only a talented singer, he's also a talented songwriter: The Georgia native has penned many of his own hit singles, including "I Got a Feelin'," "That's How Country Boys Roll" and his recent No. 1 song, "It Don't Hurt Like It Used To." Currington has always enjoyed writing as much as he does performing, but he admits that discovering the talents of a certain other songwriter has changed the way that he approaches writing sessions.

"The first time I wrote with Shy [Carter], it was a whole different process," Currington recently told The Boot and other reporters (Carter, Currington and Cary Barlowe co-wrote "It Don't Hurt Like It Used To"). "I learned that, we could just both be saying things, and we write them down, and that’s the song. We don’t really sit there and go over it and dissect lines too much; it just is what it is."

Carter is from LA, which Currington says feeds into his stream-of-consciousness songwriting style.

"It’s a little different when you write in Nashville: You meet up, and most people want you to have a title when you walk into the room," he notes. "It’s not that way in LA."

And Currington acknowledges that the Nashville way of writing can prove challenging.

"I wrote with somebody the other day for, like, two hours, and nothing’s happening," he recalls. "He’s like, ‘We need a title. We don’t have a title.’ And I was sitting there thinking, ‘We don’t need nothing. Let’s just be’ ...

"As I grow as a songwriter," Currington adds, "I learn that there are no rules."

Although Currington enjoys writing songs, he also enjoys listening to other people's songs, and doesn't feel the need to ever write all of his own tunes for an album.

"I like to write songs, but I like other people’s melodies, and [the] lyrics that they have also, probably more," Currington admits. "You’re more critical of yourself and the work that you do."

When it comes to selecting the songs that'll fit on a record, Currington has found that it's sometimes best to simply go for a drive.

"Most of the time, [I'm] driving in my truck; I really found a lot of songs doing that," Currington explains. "I still have my same truck I got when I got my first publishing deal, so I still use that truck, and it sounds the same."

Currington will have to rely on his truck plenty in 2017: He's working on a new album, which he hopes to release sometime this year.

See Billy Currington + More Country Artists as Children