Parker McCollum

McCollum continued to perform as a singer-songwriter while living in Austin, and he also went on his first tour with the Texas band Six Market Blvd. The tour inspired the lyrics for his first single, "Highway",[5] which was released on June 5, 2013, and later included on his debut EP A Red Town View. Released on November 19, 2013, the EP was produced by Corby Schaub, who is also known as the former guitarist for Ryan Bingham.[5]

McCollum's debut album The Limestone Kid was recorded at Cedar Creek Recording in Austin,[8] and includes styles such as Americana,[7] Texas country, and folk-rock.[8] McCollum handles vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica,[7][8] and his Austin-based backing band includes Kurt Grien on lead guitar, Jason Newberry on bass, Will Hoback on drums, and Charlie Magnone on keyboards and piano.[8] Multi-instrumentalist Corby Schaub produced the album.[8] Lloyd Maines contributed pedal steel guitar.[12]

External video
Parker McCollum — Meet You In The Middle Live at The Saxon Pub (Feb 2015)

McCollum wrote or co-wrote nine of the eleven tracks,[8] and two of the songs were written by McCollum's family members.[7][8] Many of the lyrics are about his experiences growing up in Limestone County, Texas,[8][12] and the album's title is a reference to the nickname he earned working summers at a Limestone County ranch.[4] The first single on the album, McCollum's original track "Meet You in the Middle," was released to Texas radio prior to the album.[7]

The debut album The Limestone Kid was released on February 24, 2015.[6] The Austin Chronicle gave it 3.5/5 stars, writing that "it's too early to declare The Limestone Kid debut of the year, but it's already one to beat," and comparing McCollum's music to that of Charlie Robison.[2] Texas Music Pickers wrote that "[McCollum's] stories are not all happy, or sad, or even have resolution; they’re just straight-forward accounts of life. It’s like Todd Snider meets Whiskeytown."[13] "High Above The Water" reached the top 50 of the Texas Regional Radio Report.[14]

McCollum and his backing band announced a tour[6] of Texas in support of the album,[4] with February and March dates set for venues in Houston, Austin, and Fort Worth. The band performed at the RedGorilla Music Fest, and Texas Crawfish and Music Festival in Spring, Texas.[7] He won the T-Birds Songwriter Award, and in 2015 performed at Larry Joe Taylor's Texas Music Festival,[15]

McCollum released an EP titled Probably Wrong: Session One on July 7, 2017.[16] It was his first release to appear on the Billboard charts, debuting at No. 6 on Heatseekers Albums,[17] No. 14 on Independent Albums chart,[18] and No. 15 on Country Album Sales chart, with 2,000 copies sold in the US in its first week.[19] Probably Wrong Session Two was released shortly after on September 8, 2017.[20] The full 10-track Probably Wrong album was released on November 10, 2017, and includes all the previous sessions which features the singles "I Can't Breathe" and "Misunderstood", plus two new tracks, including "Hell of a Year". The full Probably Wrong album was produced by Grammy Award-winning, Lloyd Maines. McCollum toured through the end of 2017 to promote his newest releases.

McCollum signed with Universal Music Group on June 27, 2019.[21] His first single under the label was "Pretty Heart".[22] On October 16, 2020, McCollum released the EP, Hollywood Gold.[23][24]

On July 30, 2021, McCollum released his third studio album to mostly positive reviews. SavingCountryMusic.Com praised his songwriting, citing "the strength of the choruses, and the unmistakable appeal these songs will find within their key demographic."[25] Country Swag states that this album is "sonically more polished than his first two albums," and that what "Parker McCollum does best on Gold Chain Cowboy is refrain from sounding like everyone else on country radio."[26] In March 2022, he went on to win the New Male Artist of the Year at the American Country Music Awards.[27]

In March 2022, McCollum performed for the first time at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to attendance of 73,243 rodeo attendees.[10]

On August 5, 2022, McCollum released "Handle on You" as the lead single from his second major label (fourth overall) studio album Never Enough. He subsequently released the tracks "Stoned", "I Ain't Going Nowhere" and "Speed" as promotional singles.