Singer-songwriter Parker McCollum will take the stage at Proud Larry’s at 9 p.m. on Wednesday. The singer, based in Austin, Texas, is stopping in Oxford on tour with his newest album.
The album “Probably Wrong” was produced in 2017, and McCollum said that he had to be alone to finish the 10 tracks for the album.
“I needed to write this record and be on my own,” he said. “I felt very misunderstood throughout the entire situation. I broke my own heart for the first time just to write this record.”
The album features some of McCollum’s most successful hits, such as “Hell of a Year,” a song that McCollum calls his “sleeper favorite of the record.”
McCollum added that writing that particular song — which he penned in a Whataburger parking lot after a breakdown — was emotionally exhausting.
“It was the hardest song I’ve ever written as far as being that honest,” McCollum said. “But after doing so, I could go back to being happy for a little bit.”
Named on the “New Country Artists You Need To Know” list by Rolling Stone in January 2018, McCollum said that his writing process is often unpredictable, and once he finds his inspiration, it becomes hard to think of anything else.
“It’s like the songwriting muse takes over,” he said. “I don’t choose when it hits me, but when it does, I pay attention, and it’s always worth the focus it asks of me.”
McCollum added that writing is almost therapeutic for him.
“I don’t talk about my feelings very often,” he said. “I keep a lot of things in most of the time, and I don’t want anybody else to have to deal with my stuff. So, I write songs instead.”
In February, McCollum told The Battalion that he is constantly evolving, or at least is trying to. To McCollum, growth is something that is inevitable.
“It’s super rare that something (like music) has that much of an effect on you,” he said. “That always inspires new ideas and new ways to get better. Obviously, it’s kind of a source for trying new things on stage or in your bedroom and you’re writing and playing and practicing and writing a record.”
He also said that he tries to make his performances in every city special for each audience by bringing the same energy to every show, no matter the size or venue.
“I always go out there and play like it’s my last show,” he said. “That’s, I think, the mentality everybody should have, but it kind of varies from town to town. It really is interesting, sometimes, how I could be out there just playing and performing and singing as perfect as I ever have, and they’ll just stand there and look at you.”
Doors will open for the show at 8 p.m., and the show will begin at at 9 p.m.
