Tim Montana, courtesy.

SACRAMENTO — There are overnight successes, and then there are musicians like Tim Montana. The Southern rock singer-songwriter had been working in the music business for more than two decades. Burned out on the Nashville scene, he returned home to Montana believing he’d carry on releasing music on his own and under the radar.

That’s not quite how it worked out. Montana’s “Devil You Know” neared the top of the rock charts, giving him his first radio hit at 39.

“It came in a moment when hope was dwindling,” Montana said recently at Aftershock Festival in Sacramento. “The minute I went back to where I was born and raised was the minute the song exploded.”

Montana understands the logistics can be a challenge living in the remote mountain town of Wise River, Mont., with a population of a few dozen, but said it was the best decision for him. He staked his claim even further by purchasing the Wise River Club along with one of his musical mentors, ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons.

“Everyone’s glad to have me back and the sense of community I have there,” Montana said. “My friends take care of my restaurant when I’m gone; they just tell me to go be a rock star.”

Montana returned home 20 years to the month from when he first left on his musical pilgrimage. Being home allowed him to wander into the woods and write songs without distractions. That’s how it was when he was first growing up and getting started. He learned to play guitar by candle light in a trailer with no electricity.

“When you grow up in the middle of nowhere, and it’s just the wilderness and animals and cold and snow, you never feel at ease in the city; never,” Montana said. “Now when I’m out there I can shut off stuff and go out with nature. There’s no cell service for 12 miles leaving my house. It’s great.”

When he first learned to play the guitar, he leaned heavily into ZZ Top, Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun.” Later, he’d get the chance to perform the song on stage with Dave Grohl.

“He asked me what song I wanted to play, and I told him ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,'” Montana recalled. “He told me to F myself, so that was the back-up.”

Whether it’s Grohl, Gibbons or even David Letterman, Montana’s evolution is partly defined by happenstance and having the right people hear him at the right time. He met Gibbons when he was 29. The elder blues rock icon has also put Tim Montana in touch with other artists, like Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell.

“I grew up without a dad. I had a bad stepdad,” he said. “Billy doesn’t have a son, so we kinda fill that void for each other. We have this father-son bond where we talk at least once a day.”

Montana is most proud of his song-writing craft. With a publishing deal for more than a decade, he’s worked with other artists and songwriters in hopes of getting songs cut, which he calls an imperfect science.

He recalled a songwriter retreat in Charleston, S.C. that resulted in “Smoke in a Bar.” The track prompted a four-paragraph text message from country star Travis Tritt making a case for why he should be the one to record the song. It ended up on Tritt’s Set In Stone.

Writing for Kid Rock was not challenging.

“All you gotta do is cuss a lot and get real rowdy, and he’ll record it,” Montana said, adding that the one thing he misses most from Nashville is the community of musicians and songwriters. “The songwriters are unbelievable; dudes you’ve probably never heard of that sit in the background and write these amazing songs. That’s what I hope to bring to rock. I went to a master class for 18 years in Nashville, Tennessee.”

One of those artists that Montana learned from was Chris Stapleton, something he said was one of the most challenging and insightful experiences he’s had.

“Getting my butt kicked by guys like that — guys that are wordsmiths or poets — I think rock needs more of that,” Montana said. “Learning to craft a poem or a message and putting it into a song is its own art form.”

In an era where hard rock lyrics are put on the backburner to make way for the “feeling” or heaviness of a song, Montana said he hopes to find a happy medium. It’s the mindset he took while making his latest album, Savage.

“I want someone to be able to shut the music off and read the lyrics and go, ‘oh shit,’” he said.

A road warrior, Montana said he can tell based on the phone calls he’s getting that 2025 is shaping up to be another banner year for touring. After shows with Skillet, Seether and Bush, he’s joining Alter Bridge’s Myles Kennedy on tour. Despite all the momentum, Montana said there’s still time to take it slow.

“When I’m off, I’m throwing my phone in the Big Hole River, and I’m gonna hang out with my family,” Montana said. “I have four kids at home. Right now, I haven’t seen them in 26 days. My 3-year-old FaceTimed me, and each time she gets more aggressive, telling me to get home!”

He can’t afford a tour bus for his family, at least not yet.

“We’re seven deep in a sprinter van, sharing beds,” he said. “I’m not throwing kids in there!”

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.