Parker McCollum has had two back-to-back No. 1 hits, with “Pretty Heart” and “To Be Loved By You,” and is back with a new song, “Handle On You.” With two hit singles to his credit, it would make sense that the 30-year-old would be carefully plotting his next move. But if there is an artist right now who is determined to be as authentic and real as possible, without trying to overcalculate anything, it’s McCollum.
“I don’t really ever think about what could be a single or not,” McCollum tells Everything Nash. “It never really crosses my mind. I just try to write the best songs I can. And then if a label thinks one’s a hit and should go to radio, then hopefully it does.”
McCollum is spending much of the remainder of 2022 on the road, while also working on his new project. The Texas native released his freshman Gold Chain Cowboy album in July of 2021, but is eager to share more music with his large, and growing, fanbase.
“Life’s just so fast and such a blur right now,” McCollum reflects. “I’m just kind of trying to hang on and write songs when I have time. And once I get ten or 12 of them, go in and make a record and put it out, and hope the world loves it.”
McCollum is already being touted as one of country music’s next great artists, with accurate comparisons to the King of Country, George Strait. The attention and accolades, while motivating to some, mean little to McCollum, whose sole goal is to make music that means something, first to himself.
“I just wanna be known as a good songwriter,” McCollum maintains. “I don’t necessarily think about writing hit songs. I just try to write the best songs I can. I’ve been lucky enough to have ‘I Can’t Breathe’ and ‘Hell Of a Year’ and ‘Pretty Heart’ and ‘To Be Loved By You’ all be big songs. ‘Like a Cowboy’ was a big song, but it was never on the radio. It was on The Highway [SiriusXM radio station]. That was it, and that’s one of the biggest songs of our show. So I just try to write good songs, the best I can, and hopefully people like them.”
McCollum, who got to open a show for Strait earlier this year, is having the success that he used to dream of, but it’s a success that only works to propel him forward, and motivates him to do even more.
“I haven’t done anything musically that’s blown me away,” McCollum notes. “I haven’t written any songs that I thought were just unbelievable. I don’t have an ‘Amarillo by Morning’ yet. I don’t have a ‘He Stopped Loving Her Today’ yet, or anything like that, or even remotely close. So hopefully one of those will pop out … I really want to do this for a long time and hopefully be in the Country Music Hal of Fame one day.”
Find music and tour dates at ParkerMcCollum.com.