It’s been over eleven years since the release of Parker McCollum’s debut album. Since then, McCollum has built quite a career, evolving from a slow-growing Texas sensation into a widely respected name in country music. Across The Limestone Kid and the four albums that followed, his discography is loaded with gold. In the new, fully acoustic live album, Parker seeks to please fans old and new with visits to songs from his past, as well as a few unreleased originals and covers.
The release of Live From Sound City came as a surprise, leaving fans little time to anticipate its arrival. Aside from a handful of songs added in the deluxe edition of his self-titled album earlier this year, McCollum hasn’t released a new record in over a year. That said, the timing of this project feels right.
These songs, although bare in nature, scratch an itch for Parker‘s listeners. Receiving some new material and lots of nostalgia, they have enough to hold them over until the next album rolls around.
Stripped down, you hear one voice and one heart throughout. Placing “South of the City Lights” alongside “Hope That I’m Enough” casts both songs in the same light, and, suddenly, questions about whether the Limestone Kid is still alive begin to fall away.
By revisiting the past, Parker shows that he’s still tapped into the character who wrote those old songs. It’s also just so cool to see an artist care enough about his deep cuts to include them in a project so many years later. Songs like “Things Are Looking Up” may never have had a big moment, but they were still greatly appreciated by listeners who played Probably Wrong on repeat.
If Parker wanted this record to sound perfect, it would, but that doesn’t seem to be the intention here. There are plenty of moments throughout the project where his voice and guitar alone can’t quite capture the fullness of other versions. For example, bigger, faster-paced tracks like “Handle on You” and “To Be Loved by You” take a slight hit in quality to fit into this collection. In this setting, that’s almost unavoidable, but it makes you wonder why he didn’t just include other deep cuts that might have fit the bill a little better.
If he were to do this again, it would be awesome to get new spins on stuff like “Hold Me Back,” “Dallas,” “Why Indiana,” “Stoned,” and “Misunderstood.”
The most notable of the two covers is “Diamonds and Gasoline” by the Turnpike Troubadours. Parker has long been a fan of the band, previously covering their song “Good Lord Lorrie” onstage many times. This new performance of their 2010 fan favorite presents the song in a similarly raw fashion to the original.
Of the new batch, “Jet Plane to GA” is probably the most interesting on first listen. The new song features piano and harmonica, setting it apart from the rest of the tracklist, which relies solely on guitar and vocals. Like the other new songs, it portrays the familiar, longing side of Parker that fans have sympathized with for over a decade.
Now, listeners can only wonder when they will get fully produced renditions of songs like this and “Kill Me Now.” Whether or not these tracks go on to become hits for Parker, or even make it onto his upcoming albums, this release gives his deeply personal storytelling a moment in the spotlight.
If there’s one statement Live From Sound City makes, it’s that Parker is still the same guy who wrote songs like “Silhouettes” and “Meet You in the Middle.” He may not always sound as raw and rough as he did in the beginning days, but he’s showing us now that he’s unafraid to strip down and re-enter that kind of territory.
When an album rollout begins, and radio play and playlisting become top priorities, earnest songs like “Have Your Heart Again” from Never Enough can get overlooked by most listeners. In this case, however, all the new material and most of the other included tracks offer hard-hitting lyricism and plenty of personality. Anyone who listens closely will have a hard time missing the deeper creative moments that made Parker such a star in the first place.
