Gary Allan hit the top of the country charts last year with “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain),” which he wrote with Matt Warren and Hillary Lindsey, and the song still keeps resonating with fans and industry alike — the three are nominated for Song of the Year at next month’s ACM Awards. The nomination for “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)” means a lot to Gary.

“[It’s] really cool just to be acknowledged as a writer, especially [for] that song,” he says. “That song is a lot of firsts for me. It was first time I’d written a No. 1, first time I’d produced, first time I’d produced something with my band, so there was a lot of personal things that went into that.”

Gary is currently climbing the country charts with his latest single, “It Ain’t the Whiskey,” which is also featured on his album, Set You Free.

Gary Allan (ACM song) OC: …people that you know. :19
“[It’s] really cool just to be acknowledged as a writer, especially [for] that song. That song is a lot of firsts for me. It was first time I’d written a No. 1, first time I’d produced, first time I’d produced something with my band, so there was a lot of personal things that went into that. And I wrote it with some tight friends, so it’s always fun to have success with people that you know.”