Tim Ryan celebrates his first No. 1 song

Tim Ryan Rouillier, former St. Ignatius resident, is climbing up the ranks as a country music song-writer, and last month he celebrated his first number one song credit with country star Phil Vassar.

"I had a number one party with artists, producers and friends," Tim Ryan said. "It was a big ol' slap on the back. Those things don't come along every day."

"The Last Day of My Life" is the song that is giving Rouillier all the success.

Rouillier is distinctively country but once his song hit number one it jumped the airwaves to get time on pop stations, too.

"'The Last Day of My Life' was released to pop radio stations with all of your light rock. They call that crossover," he said. "The song is going great and it's still so hot all over. It's running its course, and it keeps the change rolling in."

Emma Jean Rouillier, Tim Ryan's mother, still lives in St. Ignatius and she is proud of her son's accomplishments.

"I think all this is great. He's writing songs all the time now. Hopefully he might get one with George Strait — I really like his music," Emma Jean Rouillier said.

Tim Ryan had what it takes to be successful at a young age, his mother said.

"He would play until two o'clock in the morning. My husband would say 'Don't you think we should tell him to go to bed?' and I'd say 'He's OK as long as he's playing music'," Rouillier said.

A lot of people showed up to congratulate Roullier at the celebration party in Nashville.

"A lot of producers showed up. Different artists showed up. I invited Garth Brooks but he didn't show up. John Pierce was there. He was my guest from the show we did in Montana," Tim Ryan Rouillier said.

Besides the notoriety Rouillier also received a few tokens to commemorate the event.

"I have some nice plaques that show that I had a number one hit in the nation," he said.

After so many years in the music business Rouillier attributes his current success to focusing on his skill as a writer.

"Hard work has gotten me here. I put up all the extras and focused on writing songs 110 percent," he said.

Over the years Ryan has built friendships with the artists that he writes songs for and fitting into their schedules has been a success.

"I've never gone out on the road but Phil likes to write on the road. He likes writing on the bus where he's not distracted. Phil got this brand new, big old fancy bus and the first time we took it out we pulled into a fair and had to get out in the mud. It was a heck of a way of breaking it in," Ryan said.

Ryan kept busy by playing guitar while he was waiting for Vassar to have some down time to collaborate song ideas.

"I've been playing with the band. I played guitar for the entire tour. Touring is fun for the first few days but I'd rather stay home. I like to pick up the kids, get the paper and drink my coffee," he said.

Ryan's life has the possibility of getting even busier though.

"The phone won't ring and then boy the phone won't stop ringing. It's funny how things work. Since I got back from the trip to Montana I've been booked every day. I've even had offers to do my own album but I'm still thinking about that," he said.