Parker McCollum‘s favorite role is being a husband and father. The “What Kinda Man” singer married his wife, Hallie Ray, in 2022. Last August, the couple welcomed their first child, son Major Yancey Tyler McCollum.
“He’s living a very good life,” McCollum tells CMT. “I don’t think he has any worries, other than maybe when he’s hungry, which seems to be all the time. But it’s so good. The dad thing is as much fun as I’ve ever had. Just being a family man, and going home and having him and Hallie Ray there, it’s pretty special to get to miss them and then get to go home and they’re there. That’s a lot of fun.”
Especially with McCollum’s extended absences while on the road, the 32-year-old has a lot of respect for his wife, and how she takes care of Major.
“Watching Hallie Ray be a mom, which is way harder than being a dad, at least at this point, it’s really impressive,” he boasts. “It’s been a special time for us.”
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McCollum is a talented songwriter, writing many of his own songs. But unlike some of his peers, McCollum says he will likely stay away from songs about his son.
“No Dad songs for me. I don’t want to write cliché dad songs,” McCollum told Audacy over the summer, although he admitted that if “one falls out one day” he might include it on a project.
Dad songs or not, McCollum’s biggest goal is to be known for his songwriting skills, more than anything else.
“I just wanna be known as a good songwriter,” McCollum previously told Everything Nash. “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 has had a string of hits at country radio, starting with his debut single, “Pretty Heart,” out in 2020. But even with all of his success, the Texan says he isn’t actually sure he is a country music artist, at least not by today’s standards.
“I’ve wanted to be a country singer for as long as I can remember and the more I do this, the more I kind of realize that I may just not be one,” McCollum tells WTVA (via American Songwriter). “The more I try to write country songs and make country records, I feel like the further I get away from what has always made me, me,”
McCollum goes on to credit artists like George Strait, Turnpike Troubadours, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, as his inspiration, regardless of what genre they are classified in.
“Country music used to be such a narrow genre,” McCollum explains. “There was a very strict criteria. Nowadays, it’s just not. The criteria is as loose as it’s ever been. The stuff that I’ve been putting down lately, maybe you could call it country music. Maybe it’s Americana. Maybe it’s just music. I don’t know,” he added. “I’ve always wanted to be a country singer but the longer I do it I’m just like maybe I’m not one and that’s okay.”
McCollum will headline his own What Kinda Man Tour later this year. He will also join Strait for all of Strait’s East Coast dates on his Stadium Tour. Find all of his music and upcoming shows at ParkerMcCollum.com.