Country fans who follow Walker Hayes know the Alabama native is fond of Applebee’s, especially “that Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake” on a date night with his wife, Laney Beville Hayes.

But the lyrics of “Fancy Like,” Hayes’ 2021 breakthrough hit, only tell a small part of his story. Hayes, 43, paid his dues in Nashville for more than a decade before grabbing the public’s attention with “Fancy Like.” And before that, he was a piano student at Birmingham-Southern College, scarfing down late-night snacks in the cafeteria and seeking advice from a professor named William DeVan.

In the new “College Towns We Love” issue of Southern Living, Hayes talks about his time at Birmingham-Southern, where he graduated in 2002 with a degree in music. In a feature story this week, the Mobile native tells Southern Living he followed then-girlfriend Laney to the college, and had no real plan for his future.

“I literally applied to one school,” Hayes said. “I finished one application and it was to Birmingham Southern College and the only reason was I had visited there so much when I was a senior and Laney was a freshman in college. I got to know so many people up there that it just seemed like the most logical solution to the ‘what are you going to do next problem.’”

Initially, Hayes was a biology major, but his career path changed drastically when he was inspired by piano classes with DeVan. “I just fell in love with this teacher, Mr. DeVan,” Hayes said. “I remember standing in the quad and saying, ‘Hey, if I change my major, can I finish on time?’ And he said yes. That was a life changing conversation. You never know when one of those is going to pop up.”

DeVan, a pianist and author, likely inspired many students during his 31 years at Birmingham-Southern. He was named head of the piano faculty in 1980, became an artist-in-residence there in 2000 and retired from the college in 2011.

It’s a safe bet, however, that Hayes is the only student who left his tutelage to earn fame with songs about trying to stay out of AA, keeping a blow-up Grinch in the yard and praising a “cherry bottom boom girl.”

Evidently, Hayes was a colorful character at Birmingham-Southern who wasn’t shy about showcasing his talent.

“He would instantly find the piano in the room — he could play almost anything — and he would make up songs on the fly,” says a February 2022 post by The BSC Blog. “Some alumni — especially those in the choir with Hayes — might remember him for his musical moments, or for his goofier moments. Any time the choir got on the bus for a trip or performance, Hayes booked his way to the front, grabbed the microphone, and sang ‘Rappers Delight.’”

Hayes also made friends with staffers working in the cafeteria at Birmingham-Southern, and he recalled some midnight food runs for Southern Living.

“There was this place called the Grill,” Hayes said. “Past midnight it became a make-it-however-you-order-it breakfast place. So at midnight for me it was bacon, egg, and cheese omelets, bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches, grits. They had that big Texas style toast that they would throw on the grill with butter, and bacon grease was already in there. That was my go-to meal at night. I bet you I visited that place every night between Wednesday and Sunday.”

Despite his down-home attitude, Hayes has become an illustrious alumnus of Birmingham-Southern, with multi-platinum singles, national tours, appearances on awards shows and a 2022 win at the Billboard Music Awards for “Fancy Like.” He released his latest album, “New Money,” on Sept. 29, and has a new single called “Good with Me.”

Read the full Southern Living feature on Walker Hayes.