Parker McCollum's self-titled album is out, along with a surprising revelation. The record, McCollum's fourth, is the record he always wanted to make - and also what made him realize that, once and for all, he is not a country singer.
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"I've always wanted to be a country singer, and I've always been trying to be a country singer, and I just don't think that I am one," McCollum says (via Country Now). "And that's fine. That doesn't bother me at all. I wish I would've realized that sooner. But the real thing is just going in and making a record that sounds like whatever it is that I do sound like."
The father of one goes on to say that he found freedom in just making music that he liked, without worrying about genre boundary lines.
"Forget genre," he adds, saying they "weren't trying to make a record that sounded like anybody." "We never even talked about that. We just said, 'Man, we're just going to go in and let it rip. And whatever's on the other end of the line is what we'll put out.'"
McCollum might not think he is a country singer, but his current single might attest otherwise. He has a Top 25 hit with "What Kinda Man," a song he wrote with Natalie Hemby and Jeremy Spillman.
What Parker McCollum Has Said About Being A Country Artist
This isn't the first time McCollum has questioned his place in country music. In an interview with WTVA, McCollum first admits he isn't sure where he belongs in country music.
"I wanted to be a country singer for as long as I remember, and the longer I do this, the more I kind of realize I may just not be one," he acknowledges. Later, McCollum clarifies those comments.
"When I think about country music and especially what country music is nowadays, I don't really sound like either of those," he tells Kiss Country 99.9. "And so that's really what I meant by that."
Whatever he is or isn't, McCollum is at peace with the music he is making.
"I feel like I finally figured out that just being me is really what I should do as an artist," McCollum tells Audacy. "I spent so much time trying to be a country singer, and wanting to be a country singer and wanting to sound like country singers. And I'm just like, 'Man, I just don't think that I do,' and that's alright."
