William Michael Morgan Celebrates ‘I Met a Girl’ at First No. 1 Party
William Michael Morgan celebrated a major career milestone on Monday (Jan. 30) in Nashville. The singer attended his first No. 1 party honoring the success of his song, "I Met a Girl."
"I Met a Girl" is Morgan's debut single and was written by Sam Hunt, Old Dominion's Trevor Rosen and Shane McAnally. Morgan, Rosen and McAnally met with Taste of Country and other media before the No. 1 party at South in Nashville, where they discussed the chart-topping song.
While "I Met a Girl" was released to country radio last August, songwriters McAnally and Rosen admit that they couldn't recall exactly how the song came to fruition as they wrote it four years ago. As McAnally shares, the three songwriters had been writing together frequently, as it was before Hunt and Rosen's rising careers had them continually on the road touring.
"We were just writing a lot," McAnally recalls. "The chorus and the flow and the way [the song is] laid out feels very much like something we would start with. When you have something with that many colors and that many pieces, it’s nice to land on something simple like ‘I Met a Girl.’ It really gives you room to color up the verses with tilt-a-whirl, blue jeans, pearls and things like that. And those rhyme with girl."
Morgan admits that it was the images and description showcased throughout the song that made him first fall in love with "I Met a Girl."
"Crossing the street, baby blues, fixing her dress, biting her lip," he says are the images that initially drew him into the song. "That’s really what caught my attention as far as wanting to cut the song and put the song out as a single. It’s why I love it."
Now that I am engaged and I have a little girl, I think that the song does have a whole new meaning.
Morgan's No. 1 party was just one of many life events the singer is celebrating this year. He tells Taste of Country that "I Met a Girl" has taken on new meaning now that he's a father and recently engaged man. The singer proposed to girlfriend Jennifer Wayne of Runaway June late last year.
"Now that I am engaged and I have a little girl, I think that the song does have a whole new meaning," he tells Taste of Country. "When I cut it, I was just cutting songs. I was cutting great songs that I fell in love with. And now, of course, it does take on a different meaning, from the birth of my little girl, to meeting my beautiful fiancee, to getting engaged. I think all that plays a part and makes me sing a little differently now and think about the song a little differently."
After meeting with the press, the three men were surrounded by friends, family and members of the industry while being honored with several plaques and medallions commemorating the recent No. 1. McAnally has 25 No. 1 singles to his name, and Rosen has six chart toppers. "I Met a Girl" marks Morgan's first career No. 1 and during the event, he shared his appreciation for the song, which also was credited as the longest chart run to No. 1 in country music history.
"Thank you ASCAP for this and believing in me as a songwriter. That’s the reason I moved to Nashville. Of course, I wanted to be an artist, but I started off being a songwriter," Morgan said. "I also want to thank my beautiful fiancee over there, Miss Jennifer Wayne. It’s been a crazy ride and she’s been there for a good part of it, so thank you so much. I want to thank my little girl for being here. Presley, where’s she at?"
He then walked to the audience and picked up his daughter before finishing his thank-yous while holding her.
"I want y’all to meet her. This is her first time here in Nashville," he explained. "She’s the reason that I keep on going and I keep on chasing this crazy dream of mine, because I don’t worry about me no more, I worry about putting a roof over her head. So thank you guys so much."
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