Why Billy Currington Is ‘The Coconut Man’
On Instagram, Billy Currington is known as @BCCoconutMan, and, as it turns out, that's not just a randomly chosen handle.
The singer's nickname among friends is "The Coconut Man" — a moniker inspired by his side job.
"I sell coconuts on the side. I do that down in Key West; I sell them in Mallory Square," Currington explains (and, no, he's not pulling your leg). "I've been doing that for about 20 years — just sell them for fun.
"We don't make a lot of money, but we charge $4, $5 a coconut," he adds. "It's a lot of people getting off cruise ships down there, people that love coconut water, and we're right there for them when we get off."
Of course, when Currington's not hawking coconuts, he's got his full-time job as a country artist. It's a gig that's been keeping him busy lately, too: He recently released a new record, Summer Forever, and says that it's a bittersweet feeling now that the album creation process is over.
"I enjoyed being in the studio with Dann Huff; it was my very first time working with him as a producer, and I loved every minute of it," Currington admits. "I wished it could have kept on going and going and going, but we finally came to an end ..."
The new project includes a song called "Drinkin' Town With a Football Problem," and although Currington didn't pen the tune himself, it reminds him of his hometown of Rincon, Ga.
"[You're] born and bred playing football," says the longtime hitmaker, who "played a lot of running back" when he was younger, "and everywhere around that town is just ... southeast Georgia, they love their football."
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