‘Catch of the Day’ – Catch of the Year [VIDEO]

William Michael Morgan's debut single was an example of a song that slowly built an audience week-by-week and day-by-day. Originally released, and featured as our Catch of the Day in August of 2015, Morgan finally hit the top of the chart during the first week of October in 2016, and incredible 58 week climb to the top of the chart, an all-time record.

It was just the beginning for Morgan, who's second single, "Missing", was released in October, and like it's predecessor, is slowly climbing the country chart

Little was known about singer/songwriter Maren Morris prior to 2016. She was a Texas child prodigy who began performing around the state while starting to song write around the age of 12. She came to Nashville after high school and during that time she had released several albums on independent labels, meeting with little or no attention from Nashville.

But in late 2015, Morris released the lead single for her debut major label album, Hero. She slowly built a following on satellite radio, and in 2016, with the help from a January Catch of the Day, Morris burst on the Nashville scene in a big way. The single made to the top of the chart, leading the way for Hero to the same on the albums chart on the first week of release. Morris followed "My Church" up with a second single, "80's Mercedes" which is currently in the top-10 and still climbing.

For the better part of his early career, Thomas Rhett was considered by many as another member of the "bro-country" movement. But with the release of his second album, Tangled Up, Rhett, a second-generation recording artist, showed a different side of himself. Gone was the "selfish" lyrics of songs like "Get Me Some of That", replaced by lyrics that have had some recently calling him one of the leaders of the "Nice Guy" country movement.

The way for this change was led by Rhett's second single from the album. A song that he wrote for and about his wife, "Die A Happy Man" was released and featured in September of 2015, but opened 2016 with a six-week run at the top of the country chart, a run that had many calling it the early favorite for many Song of the Year honors. The run is the longest of any single in not only 2016, but since 2008.

Like Maren Morris and William Michael Morgan, the Brothers Osborne seemed to come out of nowhere in 2016, though their debut single "Stay A Little Longer" was released in 2015 and had another slow, methodical climb up the country chart. Featured on March 24th, 2015, the song would eventually land at #1 in early 2016, and lead the way for two more top-20 hits.

This all led up to the 2016 CMA Awards, where the Brothers, John & J.T. did the unthinkable, they upset perennial favorites Florida-Georgia Line for the Vocal Duo of the Year Award, a prize that FGL has had a lock on for the past few years.

Speaking of FGL, they definitely started out 2016 as the unquestioned leaders of the 'bro-country' category, but they approached the new year with a different album. When Florida Georgia Line went into the studio to record their third album Roots, they were looking to show Nashville that they were more than just party boys.

And boy, did they.

When the first single from the album, "H-O-L-Y", featured May 2nd, hit radio it took the country music world by storm, climbing the charts faster than any song in 2016, and faster than any other single in their history. "H-O-L-Y" spent 4 weeks at the top spot, and showed many in country music that these guys were more than just good time party music.

In a year where 'nowhere' became a fashionable place to come out of, Brett Young came flying out of there like a bullet from a gun. A former pitcher at Fresno State University who saw his promising major league dreams ended by an elbow injury, Young picked up a guitar while rehabbing and found his future.

His debut single "Can't Sleep Without You" was featured on April 15th and saw the top of the country music chart in October. It led the way for his self-titled debut EP, which featured Young's second single, "In Case You Didn't Know", which was featured on December 5th, a song which just could launch Young into country music's stratosphere of young singers.

Our final Catch of the Year nominee comes from an artist who many consider the top performer in country music today, and a lot of those who don't say its because he spends a lot of his time on other projects. He's a singer, a songwriter, a producer, an actor, and his work with charitable groups is legendary in Nashville.

A lot of people in Music City had felt that Tim McGraw has fallen into a musical rut on his last few albums, but when he released Damn Country Music in August of 2015, all bets were off. And when the second single from the album, "Humble and Kind", featured January 20th, it was classic McGraw at his best. The song spent three weeks at #1, and was part of a stretch for the singer where he not only became the first country music artist to simultaneously be featured on four top-15 singles, but then the following week, he became the first country artist, and the first of ANY genre since 1965, to be featured simultaneously on 4 top-10 singles.

Yeah, the guy's in a rut.