Parker McCollum couldn’t pass up the chance to cover one of the most famous country songs by one of the industry’s legendary artists. The reigning Academy of Country Music New Male Artist of the Year just released his new cover of “Carrying Your Love With Me” on Friday morning (March 11), putting his own spin on the classic George Strait track.
McCollum said in a statement on Friday that it’s “impossible to truly do this song justice but when I got the opportunity to try, I just couldn’t pass it up.”
The “To Be Loved By You” singer was caught in a state of disbelief when fellow Texan Miranda Lambert surprised him with the news that he won the New Male Artist go the Year award. McCollum was under the impression he was conducting a last-minute interview ahead of the 57th ACM Awards, but instead, found himself asking Lambert: “Are you serious? …Are you joking? You’re dead serious? I won?”
McCollum’s career milestones don’t seem to be slowing down any time soon, but the 29-year-old artist said earlier this week that he would assure his younger self that it’s OK to take things slow: “…I wish I would’ve stopped and smelled the roses, for lack of a better explanation or expression,” he said. “I don’t think I needed to move as quickly as I thought I did when I was a kid. I would just tell him to ’slow it down, man. Take it easy.’ If you’re good, you’ll get there.”
McCollum sang at the 2021 iHeartCountry Festival presented by Capital One in Austin, Texas. That’s where he took part in a star-studded guitar pull that included Strait. McCollum covered “Carrying Your Love With Me” during that performance.
Listen to McCollum’s rendition of Strait’s “Carrying Your Love With Me” here: