Danny Phegan didn't think he could be more fair-dinkum excited than when his idol Keith Urban turned a chair for him in the blind auditions of The Voice.
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But in the early hours of Monday morning, the Walla farmer and father of six woke to see a long-held dream had finally taken flight.
His new single,The Halfway Hotel, had topped the iTunes country songs chart - sitting three spots above his mega-star mentor on the reality TV series.
Lying next to his youngest son Paddy, Phegan checked his phone at 3.30am, took a quiet moment to marvel at his fortunate life and drifted back to sleep.
"I couldn't believe I was sitting above Keith Urban on the charts," says the 46-year-old, who thoroughly enjoyed his five minutes of fame on Team Keith.
"But look, the reality is I'll be gone from there very shortly and Keith will be there in perpetuity ...
"Still, I've got the screen grab to prove it!"
Fleeting though the chart-topping spot may be, Phegan's over the moon to at last lay claim to a number-one single.
While his debut album, From Where I Stand, topped the ARIA charts in 2017, Phegan says his singles have "only flirted" with the number one position - until now.
"It's a huge result because it's based on volume of sales, which is a pretty fair way to rate how you're going," he says, adding his exposure on The Voice "didn't do me any harm either".
And that's saying something for this whip-wielding, horse-riding, pub-owning larrikin of the land who has traversed the length of the country in an epic Campfires Against Cancer ride and been a well-loved fixture on the Riverina music scene for more than three decades.
More recently, Phegan and The Longreach Band have garnered a major following, performing at festivals, rodeos and outback occasions.
But if there's one skill that's eluded the straight-talkin' singer with the gift of the gab, it's been in the song-writing stakes.
"One of my favourite songs of all time is Annie's Song by John Denver and it's said that he wrote it in 15 minutes sitting on a chair lift," Phegan says.
"That never happens to me!"
His mate Darren Maddock, another popular local musician, had suggested the pair co-write a song together.
"He came out to the farm and I was very busy - I find it hard to get in the song-writing headspace," Phegan admits.
"I've got a bar here on the property - it's in an 1884 mud-brick building we call the Half-Star Hotel.
"It's a place where people are welcome no matter your walk of life; everyone leaves their weapons at the door, gets together and has a beer."
Maddock suggested the song should be about the bar.
"The Halfway Hotel poured out of me in 20 minutes," Phegan reveals.
"I thought, 'Wow, that's what it feels like to write a song like that'.
"Darren just sat back with a beer and let me go; and while we didn't co-write the song, he made me stop and sit down to write it."
In his typical bull-at-a-gate approach to life, Phegan had to hastily pull together props, people and a spare few days to produce a video clip for the single.
He'd been eyeing off the iconic One Tree Hotel at Hay but "Hollywood showed up and wanted to film Mad Max there so that put me out".
In the end, Phegan was delighted he was able to film locally, utilising the old-world charm of the historic Jindera Pioneer Museum and Gerogery Hotel as well as his own picturesque property.
He rounded up some good mates who were "perfect" for the roles of the big-bearded blacksmith, preacher, a couple of burlesque girls and a cigar-smokin' businessman - "lost souls who come together at The Halfway Hotel".
Phegan, who knew he was on a bit of a tight schedule with an upcoming shoulder reconstruction, then decided to pull another rabbit out of the hat.
"It normally takes about four days to do a film clip; we did two in four-and-a-half days - oh, and the songs were polar opposites," he laughs.
That single will be released in the next six weeks but for now Phegan's relishing his time at the top with the current song.
"I expect it will slide pretty soon," he says, cheerfully unperturbed.
"For a fella like me, I think you get all the love from all the people you know then it fades pretty quickly."
