‘Catch of the Day’ – Scotty McCreery [AUDIO]

Today the spotlight falls on a singer, who like myself is a die hard fan of the Boston Red Sox, and is the third straight competition winner to step into our focus.

Scotty McCreery's musical journey began long before American Idol, when, at age six his grandmother gave him a book about Elvis Presley. McCreery still sites Elvis as his greatest musical influence. McCreery began playing guitar by age nine, also singing in school choirs and leading his church praise band by the time he entered high school.

By the time he entered Garner High School, Scotty had already discovered the power of his talent, working throughout his home state of North Carolina at countless benefits shows, including the concert for Brittany's Battle, a Garner, NC non-profit that raises money for those effected by cancer. On this show he got the opportunity to work with an established country bass singer, Jason Michael Carroll.

In 2011, after working with Carroll, McCreery decided that he should take a shot at an audition for season number 10 of American Idol while still in high school. His original plan was to audition in Nashville, but because of previous commitments, he was forced to hit the road and travel north to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Throughout the audition, the high school junior stayed within himself and his strength, performing songs by Josh Turner, Travis Tritt, Lee Ann Womack, Montfomery Gentry. His one detour from the country path that took him to the season 10 finals was a rendition of Carole King's "You've Got A Friend" which became his most popular performance of the competition.

In the finals, McCreery came up against another young, country powerhouse, Lauren Alaina. The pair had the opportunity to perform duets throughout the finals, and with Alaina being 16 years old, and McCreery having just turned 17, it made the pairing the youngest finals pairing in the programs history, before or since. His victory over Alaina made Scotty the youngest male Idol of all time, and the second youngest over all behind Jordin Sparks who was 16 when she took the season six championship.

McCreery immediately released his debut single, "I Love You This Big" which entered the Billboard Country chart at #32 on May 25, 2011, the highest debuting single to that point since the chart modernized in 1990. It went platinum by August and peaked at #15. His follow up, "The Trouble With Girls" was also certified platinum peaking at #17 in October of 2011. His debut album Clear As Day was released at that time, and a third single from the album, "Water Tower Town" failed to crack the top-35. The album has sold more than 1.1 million copies so far and has received platinum certification.

McCreery second album See You Tonight featured the platinum title track (#10), and the gold certified single "Feelin' It" which peaked at #16. He is currently in the studio working on an as yet untitled, unscheduled third album, and the lead single from that project is in our spotlight today. Scotty McCreery and "Southern Belle" is our Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.