It's been more than a decade since Jake Owen released his very first single, "Yee Haw." He's got half a dozen No. 1 singles to his name now, but that debut track started him out on the right foot: It didn't hit No. 1, but it landed in the Top 20 and remains a fan favorite. Below, Owen recalls to The Boot where he was when he first heard that single on the radio.

I was in my truck; I was driving down the interstate in Nashville, and I heard it come on. I had to pull over. On my radio, it popped up and said "Jake Owen, "Yee Haw,"" and I couldn't believe it.

I had to take a picture of it on my cell phone and save it. It was pretty cool -- just being able to hear my music that I worked so hard to hopefully get on the radio, all of a sudden, there it was -- not only on radio, but Nashville radio! It was a pretty cool feeling.

I just kind of sat there by myself and smiled and thought about how much I'd gone through to get to Nashville and what I gave up to get there -- and how much I was so proud of myself that it all panned out.

This story was originally written by Pat Gallagher, and revised by Angela Stefano.

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