Parker McCollum On Leaving His Reckless Days Behind and Writing ‘What Kinda Man’ [Exclusive]

Before Parker McCollum met his now wife, Hallie Ray Light, he was living life a bit recklessly. When their paths finally crossed, everything changed, and suddenly the country singer felt a desire to become the person she needed him to be. Today, McCollum wears his heart on his sleeve and gives an honest look into that shift he experienced with his new single, “What Kinda Man.”

Self-discovery, reflection, true authenticity – these are words that come to mind when listening to the just-released track, penned by McCollum alongside Natalie Hemby and Jeremy Spillman. The Texas native takes listeners back to a time when getting married and having a family wasn’t on his radar, and realizing all he needed was one person to change his mind. 

“I was never going to get married, never going to have kids…and when I met Hallie Ray, that all kind of changed. I really did feel like, you know, forget the man I am, what kind of man do you need? I’ll do anything. And it was good for me. I needed to clean up my act and she was the one that made me want to do that,” McCollum told Country Now.

Even though the story stems from his past, it was penned after he had already tied the knot with his other half. McCollum says he wrote the first verse and chorus in about 30 seconds and then didn’t touch it for two weeks, however, with the help of his co-writers, the song was finally completed.

“We wrote the second verse, then I went back and almost rewrote the entire thing the day before I recorded it, but they were really instrumental in it. They were the ones that were like, ‘Hey, this is good. You need to keep this going,’ which is sometimes exactly what I need to hear because I don’t think things are good very often.”

Tapping Into His Real-Life Experiences

The poignant tune sees McCollum admitting it’s “harder than it looks” to clean up his act, but as soon as this incredible woman walks into his life, he feels more ready than ever to put his wild ways behind him and settle down for good. 

“Yeah, I’ve been running so damn long/ There ain’t a woman who could settle me down/ Wilder than a bat out of hell/ Off the rails Blazin’ through town/ But then you walk in floatin’ on air and you look across the room at me/ Forget the man I am/ What kinda man do you need,” he sings on the chorus.

“It’s honest. I mean, it’s all real. I used to stay up all night doing things I shouldn’t be doing and swearing I wasn’t going to do it again and then doing it again the very next night,” he explained. “It’s not BS. I draw from a super real honest place and whatever I’m feeling. It’s a super great way to write songs in an honest way, just letting your mind kind of throw up verbally and that’s usually what I do. Sometimes it works and I feel like it did on this song.”

He went on to admit that it blew his mind when he learned “What Kinda Man” would be impacting country radio because it doesn’t serve the typical mainstream sound that generally impacts airwaves. Sonically, it returns McCollum to his classic country roots and is guaranteed to capture listeners with a revitalized, boot-stomping beat strung together using the rich sounds of guitar and harmonica – both of which McCollum recorded himself. 

McCollum Is Credited For Capturing The Cover Art

Much like the core of the song, the cover art happened by chance and features a personal touch by the new dad. He shared that the photo of the small church was taken while turkey hunting in Kansas in the middle of nowhere. That visual also comes to life within the lyrics as he sings, “I swore that I would never step foot/Back inside the Union Valley Church again/ But here I stand just north of Oklahoma/ Tryin’ to wash away my sins.”

“I took a picture of this church as the sun was going down. It’s called Union Valley Church. I had it on my phone, and we were writing a second verse, and I’m like, ‘man, why don’t we put this church in here? It’d be cool that it’s right on the Oklahoma, Kansas line,’” he said before admitting, “It actually turns out it’s in Oklahoma, which I found out when my team got approval to use the photo I’d taken for the single artwork. So the song is technically incorrect.”

Fans Can Expect ‘Old-School Parker’ To Come Out On Next Album

This impactful track serves as a preview of what’s to come on McCollum’s next album. With no clear direction in mind, he is excited to see where this next chapter takes him while working alongside producer, Frank Liddell.

“I think that’s the coolest part about it. I don’t know, and I’m not shooting for anything, and I’m not trying to do anything. The best thing Frank Liddell’s ever done for me is say, ‘Hey, you’re really good. We’re gonna follow your lead and we’re just gonna record what you do.’ So, we’re not chasing anything, we’re not trying to sound like anything. We’re in the studio just cutting the songs as they are and everybody’s having a good time and everybody’s kind of playing off of me. And whatever the hell it sounds like when it’s done is what it’s going to sound like when it’s done.”

Fans can expect the next project to sound “a lot more old-school Parker” than the tracks from his last few records. At this stage in his career, McCollum has already crossed off many of his bucket list goals. He’s signed a major record deal, won awards, racked up No. 1 hits, embarked on an arena tour and now is taking the time to create an album that truly reflects his artistry with more transparency than ever before.  

“It’s been absolutely the craziest thing ever in the last several years of my life,” he shared honestly. “I really liked the last two records. I really, really liked them and I loved what Jon Randall and I did together, but I just needed to kind of switch it up. I’ve only got two albums left on my first major record deal and I don’t want to look back and go, ‘Man, what if I had dialed it back’ or ‘What if I’d have just gone a little more old school?’ or whatever the case would be in my mind in the future. So I just called Frank and I said, ‘Let’s just go cut a record that is super honest and super raw and nothing fancy.’ So we did that and you know what? It probably is not going to be very commercially successful, but I’m 100 percent okay with that.”

In the midst of it all, Parker McCollum and Hallie Ray are currently learning to navigate life as first-time parents to their baby boy, Major. Plus, the CMA Song of the Year nominee is back on the road for his headline Burn It Down Tour and will continue performing across the country through October.