Parker McCollum Says He’s Never Written A Song “Thinking About Writing A Hit” – “I’ve Always Just Written Songs”

Sharing the same mentality as Chris Stapleton.

As a songwriter, you always hope that a song will resonate with your audience. Of course, you wish that your fans love each and every one of your songs, especially when you are writing from the heart, in turn creating a hit. But the reality is that songwriters are at the mercy of their listeners to decide what is a hit or not.

Some people will say that they felt confident when writing a song that it was destined to become a hit, like Toby Keith felt “Red Solo Cup” was a song that was “ridiculous” enough for folks to like. However, other artists do not share that gut feeling that certain songs are meant to top the charts. Chris Stapleton once called out artists who have said they know when a song’s a hit, saying that it’s really impossible to ever predict what song will resonate with fans until they hear it.

“I don’t think I ever know that. The win is finishing the song. And there are a lot of songwriters who will claim that they know, ‘Yeah, I knew when we wrote this one that it was a six-week #1 and I was gonna get a big giant check in the mail.’

I really just think those guys are full of ****. I don’t think anybody knows that. Like, you can’t possibly know how everybody’s gonna feel about a song that you write. That’s impossible to know.”

Stapleton also writes for these dedicated listeners, and while some songs might not achieve commercial success, they can still be hits among his fan base, and that’s what he values. The feedback he gets from his true fans is how he gauges

“I don’t trust computer research or phone surveys, or anything like that. You have to take it to the people. I trust people. And I trust people who have taste.”

Chris Stapleton is not the only one with this mentality. Parker McCollum sat down with Kelleigh Bannen after the release of his self-titled record and discussed how, when he sits down to write a song, the goal is never to “write a hit.”

“I’ve never one time in my life, ever at any moment, sat down and thought about writing a hit. Or what might work or what might be successful. I’ve always just written songs and I don’t write until I have a melody that I love.” 

McCollum is the opposite of most artists, who have a phrase or a word that is stuck in their head, building the lyrics around those thoughts and later putting those words to a melody. But McCollum works with melody first, just like Brent Cobb does as well.

“When I come up with a melody, that I’m like, ‘Yeah.” Then I’ll start just making stuff up and just spitballing stuff and freestyling, that’s how I write songs.” 

@thekelleighbannen priorities straight @parkermccollum Full conversation now available on @Apple Music ♬ Big Sky – Parker McCollum

Focusing on McCollum’s statement about writing a hit, he might have ended up with a very different record had he sat down with the thought of just writing hits. When recording PARKER MCCOLLUM, the “Solid Country Gold” singer knew that returning to these gritty Limestone Kid roots with the album’s sound could backfire and not resonate with some of his fans.

McCollum at one point even thought that this album might be “career suicide.”

“I’d freak out, like, ‘What have I done? This is career suicide.’ Then I’d go back to the studio the next day and keep recording. You’re forced to sit there and live with the album for several days in a row, so you’re on this journey of ‘All right, this is who I am.’ But I just never enjoyed making a record as much as I enjoyed this one.”

The creation of PARKER MCCOLLUM was scary but enjoyable, and the end product was a project McCollum was proud of, regardless of its commercial success.

Sometimes you have to take a risk, knowing it might not equate to a number one hit, to get back in touch with the roots of who you are as an artist and a songwriter.

Fire up a few songs from McCollum’s last record while you’re here.

“Enough Rope”

“Sunny Days”

The post Parker McCollum Says He’s Never Written A Song “Thinking About Writing A Hit” – “I’ve Always Just Written Songs” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.