‘Catch of the Day’ – Tim McGraw – “Damn Country Music” [VIDEO]

Today's spotlight falls on an artist who personifies the Midas Touch, except not everything he touches turns to gold, it turns to platinum.

Beginning with his self-titled 1993 album and continuing through 2014's Sundown Heaven Town, Tim McGraw has released 13 studio albums and 5 compilation albums. With the exception of the first and the last, every album McGraw has released has been certified platinum (or greater), with Sundown Heaven Town on the verge of certification.

The apple didn't fall far from the tree for a young Tim McGraw. Raised as Timothy Smith, McGraw didn't meet his father, major league pitcher Tug McGraw until he was 11 years old. McGraw followed in his father's footsteps after high school, attention the University of Louisiana Monroe on a baseball scholarship. He struggled in college, though during the time, he learned to play guitar. McGraw claims that he was such a horrible guitarist, that his roommates would hide his guitar.

McGraw came to the attention of Curb Records is 1990. After cutting a demo single, Tim gave a copy of it to his father. While driving with Tug, a friend of several Curb Records executive heard the demo, and offered to pass it on. The label quickly signed the younger McGraw and his self-titled debut album was released later that year. While the album and its four singles failed to crack the top-40, McGraw did receive some air time; some programmers added him because they saw an unpolished gem, others because of his famous father. Either way, McGraw was off and running.

These albums have spawned 48 top-10 hits and 28 #1's. He has also reached #1 in collaborations with Jodee Messina and wife Faith Hill on the country charts, rapper Nellie ("Over and Over"), on the Adult Contemporary chart and Def Leppard on the Rock Chart ("Nine Lives").

McGraw is preparing his 14th studio album, Damn Country Music. The first single from the album "Top of the World" is currently in the top-10, and the next single, the title track is our focus today. Tim McGraw and "Damn Country Music" is today's Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.