Parker McCollum is, indeed, a country music singer. The "What Kinda Man" singer is clarifying the comments he made earlier this year, when he questioned if he belonged in the genre. But fortunately, McCollum says he feels quite at home within country music, and has no plans of leaving.
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"I always was like trying to be what I thought I should be to be a country singer," McCollum tells Kiss Country 99.9. "And there's been a couple of times in my career, like when I wrote The Limestone Kid, my very first record, I didn't know anything. I was just writing songs and just becoming whatever it was that I was in the moment. And it's such a great, beautiful way to create and write songs and record songs."
McCollum's debut album on MCA, Gold Chain Cowboy, came out in 2021. In the four years since then, McCollum has loosened the creative strings of what he thinks his music should look like. Still, he makes it clear that he will always be part of the genre he loves.
"I feel like the longer I did it, the longer I was just trying to do something, instead of just doing whatever it is that I do. Which, I still don't know really what that is," he says with a laugh. "When I think about country music and especially what country music is nowadays, I don't really sound like either of those, and so that's really what I meant by that."
Parker McCollum's New Album
McCollum recently revealed he is working on a new album, one he says is the best record he has ever made.
"I was thinking too much about it. But no, [I'm not leaving] at least until this new record comes out. So at least one more," McCollum says with a laugh.
"I'm not going anywhere," he says. "Towards the end of the year, I'm like, 'Man, how long do I want to do this?' And then once I have a month off, I'm like, 'I'm good.' I want to keep doing this.'"
It's a good thing. McCollum spoke about his next record while at RODEOHOUSTON, hinting that fans will be blown away by the project.
"This record is honest, this record is raw," he says. This record is one thousand percent authentic, Parker, and it feels really good to get back to writing and recording songs like I always wanted to."
