The past month has been "a whirlwind" for Ryan Bizarri, after country superstar Rodney Atkins recorded a song written by the Coal Valley native.
"We like to think that they're all hits, but I don't think we had any idea this was gonna happen," said Bizarri.
Bizarri and his Nashville co-writer Walker Hayes wrote the song, "Eat, Sleep, Love You, Repeat," back in April. The up-tempo, country love song caught the attention of Atkins, who put the song on hold just nine days later. The very next day, Atkins took it to the studio and cut it.
Last week, "Eat, Sleep, Love You, Repeat" hit country radio.
"To actually hear an artist sing your song, someone like Rodney do your song... that's somebody I respect, that I'm a fan of anyways... it's so exciting. He sang it completely the way that we intended it. You just sit back and go, 'Wow, I'm so proud that one of my baby songs got some wings,'" said Bizarri.
The success is even more meaningful when Bizarri thinks about the past decade of work. He and his wife moved to Nashville back in 2003, hoping to make it as a songwriter.
"Everybody was up here [in the Quad Cities.] We left everybody. I mean, that was one of the biggest sacrifices about moving, was leaving our family and our friends. You know, we just hoped all along that it was going to pay off," said Bizarri.
Now, Bizarri believes it has paid off.
On Wednesday night, family and friends gathered at Steventon's in LeClaire, Iowa, to celebrate and listen to him perform.
"I've been in Nashville for 11 years, and that's a long time. These guys didn't forget about me, and that's amazing," said Bizarri.
DJ's at WLLR say they've been keeping an eye on the song as it moves up the charts, and that they'll be playing it soon on local country radio stations.
To hear more, you can visit Ryan's website here.