In 2021, Parker McCollum was just a country music singer angling to win the award as the best newcomer in the genre. Three years later, he is an award-winning and once again nominated artist who has partnered with Raising Cane’s, one of the largest fast food chains in America. Total Apex Entertainment was invited to meet with McCollum as well as Cane’s president and CEO Todd Graves. The singer was asked about his music, his partnership with Cane’s, a new album, and so much more.
Parker McCollum Talks ACM Performance
Parker McCollum was invited to perform at the Academy of Country Music Awards, an honor bestowed on some of the best artists in and around the genre. Post Malone, Noah Kahan, Kelsea Ballerini, Jason Aldean, Reba McEntire, Lainey Wilson, and so many other members of country music royalty will perform as well. McCollum reflected on what that meant to him.
“It’s such an honor to be nominated. Really everybody wants to win. I mean, you always want to win, especially if you’re competitive. But really, in the end, I mean, genuinely and sincerely the big win for me is being thought of in the likes of Lainey Wilson and Cody Johnson and Reba McEntire and all this incredible talent in country music that comes together for a night like the ACM Awards,” he said.
McCollum revealed that it was a childhood dream of his to be a country music singer, a dream he now lives. “To walk the same halls, do the same interviews and play on the same shows and the same stages as all these people who are huge country music superstars. That’s really the big win for me,” he went on. McCollum wants to win, but just being considered part of the field of incredible talent in country music is enough for him.
Raising Cane’s Sponsors ACM Award-Winning Country Superstar
Not everyone can get a Raising Cane’s sponsor, but Parker McCollum did. Not only is he partnered with them, but they sponsored the Burn It Down tour, which is named after the hit song he was nominated for in 2024. They’ve had his back, and he believes that’s a high honor. “If you do a feature with some big country singer, you know, people are kind of like, oh, well, if they approve of them, they must be pretty good. And so Raising Cane’s is no different in that aspect.”
This relationship started long ago, and it began as purely a friendship rather than a business partnership. Todd [Graves is] a family man and businessman; I like to think of myself as those two things. Obviously, he’s a little bit better businessman than I am. But, you know, it’s very organic chemistry between him and I, it was very genuine. We were fast friends, and we were friends long before we ever did business together.”
Graves gave credit to McCollum in the same way. “I think it’s good to be around people that lift you up and that inspire you, right, it doesn’t matter what it is. Whether it’s fried chicken, or it’s being a country music star about doing things and doing it for the right reasons. And what I like about Parker is he’s always trying to get better as a songwriter or singer, and what he does to give back. Just last night, [he played] ACM Lifting Lives.”
ACM Lifting Lives is a charity concert, and McCollum’s performance helped raise over $700,000. “It was really an honor to kind of get to be the face of it per se and, and have some buddies out to kind of put on the show,” McCollum said. “When you get to put time into something that actually raises money, and it makes it legitimate difference that you can see… that was great.”
Parker McCollum Discusses Hip-Hop Influence
There’s no denying the mixture of hip-hop and other genres. Country music isn’t immune to that, as the sound permeates much of what is popular today. That’s not McCollum’s style per se, but he’s a big fan of someone whose it is: Morgan Wallen. “Morgan Wallen’s really the only one that’s done the hip-hop country thing that I’ve actually really, really liked because I think it’s so originally him. He’s kind of the one that set the hip-hop country thing off and made it you know what it is now.”
As an overall fan of music, McCollum listens to it all. He revealed in another interview elsewhere that Champagne Moments by Rick Ross is in his playlist. He told Total Apex Entertainment and others that his truck listening can go from Lil’ Wayne to Conway Twitty in a single change of song. As for the Ross song, which is part of the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar beef, McCollum is still just a fan of the music.
“You know, actually, I had no idea about all the any of that… The guy that was driving the car I was riding in I said, ‘Man put on Champagne Moments.’ He’s like, you know, it’s a Drake diss. I said, ‘I don’t give a damn, I just like Rick Ross.'” He went on to reveal that he’s a big fan of Ross and always has been. Long ago, McCollum read Ross’ book and has been a follower ever since.
“What if we had that kind of disses with country music, it probably wouldn’t be as cool,” he laughed. “I’m a fan of all those guys I think you know a lot of those guys at the top of the rap game like Rick Ross and Drake and Weezy is one of my favorite rappers ever.” He said the melody is everything to him, so when hip-hop gets into that area, he quite enjoys it.
But when Parker McCollum is writing his own music, he tries his best to shut off the influence. “I try not to listen to it because I am so impressionable in music,” he added. “As soon as I feel kind of the hip-hop stuff start to creep in, when I’m sitting around creating, I shut down pretty quickly. I don’t think that’s my thing. And I don’t think switching up and trying to go with what works is ever the answer for anybody, especially not me.”
Country Star Teases Next Album
As for that writing, Parker McCollum has been working on a new album. He revealed that he’s written the majority of it, though the writing process won’t stop until he’s just about ready to release the project. “We were kind of trying to rush out and next record or it felt like we were rushing it and I just kind of put the brakes on it recently. And I just said, ‘Man, I need to step back and take a breath.'”
Parker McCollum said he didn’t want to put out a record that felt like his previous two. “I really want to go in and kind of, you know, you’re so busy in this business and you tour so much and there’s so much extracurricular stuff around just singing onstage and writing songs and sometimes, you’re the boss of your company and the CEO and you run the show.”
All told, McCollum got about six songs into the recording process before deciding to slow down a little. “I’ve written the best songs I think, that I’ve ever written on a major label. And I just want to get it right.” Then the singer gave a tentative release date for his next album, which could come out early 2025. Fans can begin anxiously await that date.
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