Parker McCollum is speaking out to set the record straight after Oliver Anthony accused him of using autotune and backing tracks during his live shows.
This conversation came to light after Anthony, who went viral with his song “Rich Men North Of Richmond,” last year, shared a video to YouTube titled, “What I’ve Learned From the Music Industry So Far.” In this 15+ minute video, the singer/songwriter, who recently revealed he plans to leave the music industry to pursue ministry, called out the artist who played after him at a country music festival in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Fans were quick to note that the Carolina Country Music Fest is the only country music festival in the city and that the only artist on the bill that played after Anthony on the lineup was Parker McCollum.
Anthony claimed, “A lot of these mainstream acts…everybody runs backing tracks. Like I’ll never forget, I won’t say who the act is, but I think it was at South Carolina at the Myrtle Beach one, the band who played after us, that dude had six autotune modulators on a pedal board on stage, just to help him with vocal pitch live. And they had backing tracks running, drum loops running.”
He later pointed out, “for somebody to pay hundreds of dollars to go listen to like a fake performance…nobody talks about that stuff.”
As this portion of the video began to spread around social media over the weekend, McCollum decided to put an end to the “speculation” by issuing a statement on social media with hopes to “clear things up.”
“Hey guys, per the Oliver Anthony interview or whatever it was, claiming that he saw drum loop, modulars or whatever he called it. I don’t even know what that is. 100 percent fabricated lie,” McCollum urged. “Never ever, ever one time have I used autotune or a drum loop or anything fake of any kind on stage. Me and my guys are ripping it the real deal every single night. It has never been one single part of our show, not one note that was not live raw and in the moment, a 100 percent fabricated story that is 100 percent a lie, and that will never change. We will always be out there really swinging it as a real band trying to do our best to respect country music.”
He concluded by telling fans, “So that’s all I got to say on it, and that’s where it needs to end.”
Several of McCollum’s friends and fellow artists came to his defense in the comments section, including fellow Texas natives Koe Wetzel and Kolby Cooper.
Wetzel commented, “One more time for the folks in the back,” while Cooper admitted, “THAT SHIT HAD ME LAUGHING😂 so wild.”
While many artists use autotune and/or play to tracks, Parker McCollum surely is not one of them.
Fans can experience Parker McCollum’s live show in 2025 with his headlining What Kinda Man Tour, which is set to kick off on January 23 in Athens, Georgia. The track will wrap up in Gainesville, Florida on April 26.
Joining McCollum on tour is rising country star Kameron Marlowe with special guests Laci Kaye Booth and William Beckmann.
The post Parker McCollum Defends His Live Show, Calls Oliver Anthony’s Allegations ‘100 Percent Fabricated Lie’ appeared first on Country Now.
