On Monday, the Country Music Association announced its picks for the 59th annual CMA Awards. In typical CMA fashion, a lot of the usual names were present, with Morgan Wallen scoring three nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, Chris Stapleton being nominated for Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year (shocker) and Lainey Wilson continuing her award show dominance with six nominations, including Entertainer and Female Vocalist of the Year. Undoubtedly, there were two major storylines emerging upon the nominations. Those two, of course, being Wilson, Megan Moroney and Ella Langley leading the way with six nominations each (a stark contrast to female country singers’ dwindling success on country radio these days) and Zach Top’s five nominations. Though the fact that Wilson, Moroney and Langley are leading the way despite country radio’s continued refusal to give women a fair shake compared to their male counterparts deserves its own article entirely, I wanted to focus on Zach Top for a moment. There’s simply no denying that he’s country music’s new “it” artist. Of course, Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan are still putting up bigger numbers overall, thanks in part to their crossover appeal and the simple fact that they’ve been around longer. With that being said, however, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the “Use Me” singer is becoming the “chosen one” in the genre, both in the public’s eyes and by the industry’s gatekeepers. As previously mentioned, Top was nominated for five separate awards: Male Vocalist of the Year, New Artist of the Year (for the second year in a row), Song of the Year and Single of the Year for “I Never Lie” and Album of the Year for Cold Beer & Country Music.  It’s the Album of the Year nomination that is particularly interesting. With the nod, Top is now one of only 19 artists in the history of the CMA Award to score an AOTY nomination for their debut album, joining the likes of Chris Stapleton’s Traveller, Brooks & Dunn’s Brand New Man, Randy Travis’ Storms of Life and more. With a win this November, Top would accomplish an even more rare feat and become just the fourth artist ever to actually win the award with their debut album, given that only Stapleton (Traveller), The Kentucky Headhunters (Pickin’ On Nashville) and Jack Greene (There Goes My Everything) are the only artists in history to win with their first record at the CMA Awards. Of course, we won’t know Top’s outcome until the show airs on November 19th. But for now, here are the 19 debut albums to ever score an Album of the Year nomination at the CMA Awards: 1. Cold Beer & Country Music  – Zach Top Release Date: April 5, 2024 Year Nominated: 2025 (59th Annual) Producer: Carson Chamberlain Result: TBA 2. Traveller – Chris Stapleton Release Date: May 5, 2015 Year Nominated: 2015 (49th Annual) Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton Result: Winner 3. Same Trailer, Different Park – Kacey Musgraves Release Date: March 19, 2013 Year Nominated: 2013 (47th Annual) Producers: Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves Result: Loss 4. Here for the Party – Gretchen Wilson Release Date: May 11, 2004 Year Nominated: 2004 (38th Annual) Producers: Joe Scaife, Mark Wright, John Rich (associate producer) Result: Loss 5. Who Needs Pictures – Brad Paisley Release Date: June 1, 1999 Year Nominated: 2000 (34th Annual) Producer: Frank Rogers Result: Loss 6. Did I Shave My Legs for This? – Deana Carter Release Date: September 3, 1996 Year Nominated: 1997 (31st Annual) Producers: Chris Farren, Jimmy Bowen, John Guess Result: Loss 7. Brand New Man – Brooks & Dunn Release Date: August 13, 1991 Year Nominated: 1992 (26th Annual) Producers: Don Cook, Scott Hendricks Result: Loss 8. Wynonna – Wynonna Judd Release Date: March 31, 1992 Year Nominated: 1992 (26th Annual) Producers: Tony Brown, Paul Kennerley Result: Loss 9. Pickin’ on Nashville – Kentucky Headhunters Release Date: October 17, 1989 Year Nominated: 1990 (24th Annual) Producer: The Kentucky Headhunters Result: Winner 10. Here in the Real World – Alan Jackson Release Date: February 27, 1990 Year Nominated: 1990 (24th Annual) Producers: Scott Hendricks, Keith Stegall Result: Loss 11. Storms of Life – Randy Travis Release Date: June 2, 1986 Year Nominated: 1986 (20th Annual) Producers: Kyle Lehning, Keith Stegall Result: Loss 12. Why Not Me – The Judds Release Date: October 15, 1984 Year Nominated: 1985 (19th Annual) Producer: Brent Maher Result: Loss 13. Rose Colored Glasses – John Conlee Release Date: October 11, 1978 Year Nominated: 1979 (13th Annual) Producer: Bud Logan Result: Loss 14. I Don’t Want to Have to Marry You – Jim Ed Brown & Helen Cornelious Release Date: September 1976 Year Nominated: 1977 (11th Annual) Producer: Bob Ferguson Result: Loss 15. The Blind Man in the Bleachers – Kenny Starr Release Date: December 26, 1975 Year Nominated: 1976 (10th Annual) Producer: Snuffy Miller Result: Loss 16. Before the Next Teardrop Falls – Freddy Fender Release Date: March 19, 1975 Year Nominated: 1975 (9th Annual) Producer: Huey P. Meaux Result: Loss 17. The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A. – Donna Fargo Release Date: May 1972 Year Nominated: 1972 (6th Annual) Producer: Stan Silver Result: Loss 18. Help Me Make It Through the Night – Sammi Smith Release Date: September 1970 Year Nominated: 1970 (4th Annual) Producer: Jim Malloy Result: Loss 19. There Goes My Everything – Jack Greene Release Date: December 1966 Year Nominated: 1966 (1st Annual) Producer: Owen Bradley Result: Winner The post Zach Top’s ‘Cold Beer & Country Music’ Becomes The 19th Debut Album Ever To Be Nominated For CMA Awards ‘Album Of The Year’ first appeared on Whiskey Riff.