HARROGATE — When local Songwriter Steve Gulley sat down to craft a new tune, he didn’t realize what would happen. He and his friend and fellow musician Tim Stafford wrote the title song to Blue Highway’s album “Through The Window Of A Train” in Gulley’s living room together in Harrogate — and it became a surprise smash hit.

The song won Song of the Year from the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards held Oct. 2, in Nashville, Tenn. at the Ryman Auditorium. The song is also number one on the Oct. National Bluegrass Survey. Song Co-writer Tim Stafford is the band leader of the popular bluegrass group, Blue Highway.

“We were shocked. We didn’t think we had a chance,” Gulley told the Middlesboro Daily News. “We’ve been very blessed. This came about from two guys sitting in a living room. We did more than we ever expected. It was a good year.“

While the song has resonated all over the world, their inspiration came from this region, at Gulley’s home in Harrogate. “We keep notebooks out on the road and write down stuff at airports — everyday things... But I can still hear the train going to Knoxville over on the ridge.”

“The inspiration came about from an [idea of] older guy who grew up with a dad on the railroad. The man got older with kids and is driving down the road,” continued Guitarist Gulley. He explained that the song is really about the old man’s observations on a world that’s in the past. “While he’s traveling forward (on the road), he’s traveling back. He wants others to see the world as he does, but it’s impossible. It’s a by gone era.”

The title, like the lyrics, came out naturally for the award-winning musician. “We were reading lines (of the song) and [Tim] said “Through The Window Of A Train” and it stuck. If you look out of a picture window you see life through a frame.”

Gulley, who grew up in Harrogate and attended college at Lincoln Memorial University, met Kingsport-native Stafford at ETSU. On the heels of his recent success, Gulley has built a new recording studio on his property. Together, he and Stafford are recording a duet album, the two will get to work in the next few weeks. It will be out in spring of next year.

While the song itself is about a man thinking about his dad, Gulley says he finds his greatest inspiration from his father.

“I woke up to my dad’s voice on the radio,” said Gulley, about his father Don Gulley. “He was in radio for 40 years. And program director for radio in Tazewell.”

While Gulley’s song could be heard playing in the Ryman two weeks ago, his dad played the historic auditorium himself in 1960’s. “I grew up with a lot of great music in the living room. Dad once said there so many players (in this area), you can just lift up a rock.”

“I’ve made my living as a professional musician since 1990. Traveled the world to Sweden, California, and Europe,” said Gulley, who tours with his band Grass Towne. I’ve seen a lot of the country. But I miss the mountains when I’m away. Lot of my inspiration comes from the Tri-state area.”

Stephen Woodward is a Staff Writer for the Daily News. He can be reached at swoodward@middlesborodailynews.com.

Photo: Steve Gulley’s song “Through The Window Of A Train” that he co-wrote with Tim Stafford, won Song of the Year at the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards. (Photo courtesy ERICK ANDERSON)