Parker McCollum wants to do right by his fans, even if it comes at great personal cost to himself. The 30-year-old will perform a free show at Ascend Amphitheater on Saturday, September 17, after his original headlining show in May was delayed and shortened due to severe weather.
“It just couldn’t have gone worse than it did,” McCollum tells Everything Nash. “A big sold-out show in Music City — of course hadn’t rained for weeks, and an hour before we were supposed to go on stage, it just started torrential lightning, everything. We ended up playing a short set at like midnight. Our fans deserve better.”
It was McCollum’s idea to return for a free show. While costly for him, who now has to pay his band and crew for another night, he says it’s a small price to pay for keeping his fans happy.
“When you get to the end of the year, and you’ve made X amount of dollars, it’s really not that hard to swallow,” says the singer. “When it’s all said and done, my fans have been unbelievable to me, selling out venues across the country, and I always try to do right by them. I know what it’s like to save up all your money just to buy a concert ticket, money that you worked hard for, to buy a concert ticket and go see somebody that you wanna see live. And I’ve never done that where the show got rained out and all that kind of bad stuff. So I just wanted to do right by them.
“It felt like the right thing to do in my gut, and I usually trust my gut all the time,” he continues. “So it’ll cost a pretty penny to do it, but hopefully those people will know that we care about them, and we hear them and we see them. We’re not just there to make a dollar, we’re there to make a difference.”
A link was shared to previous ticket holders for McCollum’s former show, to claim their free tickets. The remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, August 19, at 10:00 AM CT here.
McCollum’s latest single, “Handle on You,” is at radio now. The song is from McCollum’s new album, which he is working on currently. Find all of McCollum’s upcoming shows and music by visiting his website.