Parker McCollum Scraps the Rulebook and Finds His True Sound on New Self-Titled Album

For his fifth studio album, Parker McCollum scrapped the usual routine, packed up his band, and headed to New York City to record. He spent just seven days hunkered down at the legendary Power Station recording studio and recorded what would become his most personal and creatively freeing project to date.

Out today (June 27) via MCA Nashville, the self-titled album is a raw, reflective body of work that pulls back the curtain on who McCollum is. This marks a creative turning point as McCollum stripped away any outside expectations and embraced a sound that’s entirely his own.

For the first time in his career, McCollum can confidently say he left the studio feeling truly proud of what he created.

“Usually, every time I’ve made a record, I’ve walked out and said, ‘alright, I know I want to do next time.’ And I didn’t say that this time, it hasn’t even crossed my mind,” he recently told Country Now and other outlets. “I think you can hear exactly what someone was doing when they make a record, even old records, records that are just now coming out. You can just hear how much of themselves are in it. And I think you can hear that on this record.”

He also let go of the pressure to check any boxes, especially when it came to honing in on a specific genre. Instead of chasing a sound, McCollum focused on making music that felt true to who he is right now.

“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. 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,” he admitted. “Forget genre, we 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.’”

That mindset gave McCollum a sense of freedom he hadn’t tapped into before. Alongside Grammy-winning producer Frank Liddell, he and his band set a tone of intensity and focus that shaped the sessions, starting from the moment they stepped into the studio on day one.

“I just wanted to go kind of lie to myself and tell myself that I was a rockstar and act like one for a week,” he explained. “I knew that’s never really been my personality. And I’ve always tried to be very under the radar and very humble and very just kind of out of the way. But I feel like when you go in to make a record, that’s probably not the best recipe. And so I kind of just was like, I’m just going to go be arrogant and cocky for a week.”

The album opens with “My Blue,” which was also the first song McCollum recorded in the studio on a Monday morning. McCollum says it came together effortlessly, which unfortunately made the rest of tracks feel like “an absolute grind” by comparison.

“That was probably the worst thing that we could have done was start off with something that happened so easily and so naturally…I don’t think anybody really thought about the fact that we only had seven days,” he admits. “I don’t think that was intentional beyond the fact that I just wanted to go somewhere where I could focus and nobody had to leave and go pick up their kids. And the label wasn’t stopping by, and we were completely undisturbed and focused and everybody was so in.”

For that week in New York, McCollum lived and breathed the record. He skipped the bars and restaurants, ate every meal in his hotel room, and each morning walked into the studio prepared to set the tone. Without saying anything, he made it clear that there would be no wasted time.

That intense focus is embedded in all 14 tracks. Many of the songs were written in different seasons of McCollum’s life, from “Permanent Headphones,” which McCollum wrote at just 15, to “What Kinda Man,” his current single that captures the life transformation he experienced after meeting his now-wife, Hallie Ray Light. Throughout the album, he also revisits his “wild years,” wrestles with self-doubt, and embraces vulnerability in unfiltered ballads.

A standout moment on the record is Parker McCollum’s cover of the Danny O’Keefe classic “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues,” which features fellow Texan and powerhouse vocalist Cody Johnson. The collaboration was something McCollum says he had envisioned for years.

It marks one of two covers on the album and the only songs out of the 14 tracks that McCollum didn’t have a hand in writing.

“I’ve always wanted to hear Cody sing that song. I kind of did it for selfish reasons, really, just because I wanted to hear Cody Johnson sing that song,” he pointed out.

Finally, one day he mustered up the courage to ask Johnson if he would lend his vocals and the “That’s Texas” singer showed no hesitation before agreeing to hit the studio.

“Cody’s always been someone kind of looked up to, he is from Texas around the same part of the state. And it just kind of seemed like a cool sentiment. I’ve always kind of watched him very carefully how he’s carried himself off the stage and thought really highly of him and just think his talent is out of this world. And so I just asked him one day, I was like, will you sing the second verse? And he shot back right away. He is like, I’d love to do it. And he did it and just absolutely murdered it.”

The project comes full circle with the final track, “My Worst Enemy,” a powerful tune with a haunting outro. McCollum revealed it was never planned to be the final song until it happened naturally in the studio.

“All of a sudden just that big outro, everybody just knew…I feel like you ride off into the sunset on that outro and we were sitting back listening to it. I was like, man, ‘That’s got to be the last song on the record.’”

When it came to choosing the title to sum up this project and its heavy set of emotions, McCollum admits he struggled a bit. He threw around some ideas, but none of them felt right. Eventually realized this was the perfect time and the perfect group of songs for a self-titled record.

“I loved it being a self-titled record and I had never done it. And I think when you listen to the record, I think it fits very well on this album,” he explained.

Recording an entire 14-track project over the course of just seven days was no easy feat. McCollum admits it was a wild and unpredictable experience, but it turned out to be better than he could have ever imagined. With Parker McCollum, the singer leans fully into his identity without trying to fit a mold. Whether the album becomes his biggest success or flies under the radar, he’s at peace with the outcome because for the first time, he’s made something that feels exactly right to him.

“I don’t know if anybody’s going to love this record at all. I’m absolutely in love with it. It could be an absolute flop and I would still love it just as much. And I’ve never been able to say that. I’ve never made a record that I love as much as this one. And so I’ve no idea what the fans are going to think or what they’re going to say, but I always like to think that.”