After spending 49 weeks on the Mediabase chart, William Michael Morgan’s debut single, “I Met a Girl,” finally reached the top spot in October 2016. The almost-yearlong climb was the longest run to a No. 1 in the chart’s history.

“Everybody believed in us, and it really goes back to the team, from management to producers to the staff over there at Warner Brothers,” says William Michael to Nash Country Daily. “They really believed in us, man. They never gave up. The whole team never gave up and they believed in us and they had the same dream that we did as far as wanting to have a country single out on radio.”

With the release of his second single, “Missing,” the Mississippi native stays in his traditional-sounding wheelhouse, but instead of focusing on the girl who stole his heart like in “I Met a Girl,” the crooner gets lost—in a good way. With fiddle and steel out front, WMM sings about the beauty of getting away from the hustle and bustle, whether that’s in “the big city or the country or a little beach town.”

“‘Missing’ is about just turning your phone off for a little bit and getting away,” says William Michael. “Everybody’s got their own way. I like to be out on the water somewhere—on a beach with the sand in between my toes drinking a cold Bud Light or out on the water fishing, or in the woods, hiking, hunting, whatever the case may be. You have to make time for it, man. Your brain has to turn off for a little bit. You have to rejuvenate yourself for a little while.”

With his traditional lean, William Michael is rejuvenating country radio in a way that would make ol’ George Strait proud.