Hudson Westbrook already has a packed calendar with headlining tour dates, but his schedule is about to get even more ambitious as he will soon jump on a handful of other artist treks — including Parker McCollum’s What Kinda Man Tour for three shows over the summer. In the fall, he will also join McCollum’s rebranded tour for select stops along with a host of other special guests, including Ashley Cooke, Corey Smith, Kameron Marlowe, Laci Kaye Booth, and Vincent Mason.
The run of shows brings Westbrook full circle as someone who has looked up to McCollum for many years. In an interview with Music Mayhem, Westbrook spoke about his admiration for McCollum and how he connected with the fellow Texan and red dirt singer’s music and career early on.
“I remember going to his live show four times in a row when I was a little kid and just being like, ‘How is he doing that? And keeping everyone engaged without doing anything out of pocket?” Westbrook said, explaining that he found that kind of fan response unordinary at the time. “I think the major thing I take away from Parker — and I think you can do it with every artist — is what pieces do you like from their set? What pieces do you like from how they write? What pieces do you like from their marketing? My favorite thing about Parker is the music is the main centerfold of it all. His focus is getting the music out, and letting whoever wants to listen to it, listen to it.”
Seeing how his predecessors have handled their careers allows Westbrook to learn through perceiving. And, what he absorbs, he applies to his artistry.
“We’ve never run a campaign on my pages because I want my music to reach people organically, and I don’t want to force anything in front of people’s faces,” he shared. “So I think that it’s just letting people choose what song they want to listen to.” As for the stage, he said, “I think the most important thing… is watching how their crews work and translating that to your crew and watching how they set up their mics and what little things that we can fix within our system of getting ready for a show.”
Hudson Westbrook also admires Parker McCollum’s ability to introduce new music eras, his stage presence, and the way he treats his band and crew. Westbrook explained, “As I watch Parker’s socials, I love how he prepares for an album and deleted all of his older stuff, and it’s like a new era. And I love how he presents himself on stage and is not, he is always smiling, and he’s always treating people with respect. And I feel like as long as you’re treating people with respect, and you’re on stage, and you’re honestly just putting on a live show that is very up the middle and very welcoming too, is what I loved.”
The tour slots that the “Sober” singer will be joining McCollum on for the summer stretch include Montana, Utah, and a stop at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado on July 31.
“I’m getting exposed to these rooms that I hope to headline one day and I get to watch how they facilitate the room and how they just, I guess, do their live show because arenas and Red Rocks are a lot different than Gruene Hall, but how do you create the same environment?” Westbrook said, adding. “We once toured with Midland and came back and did a headlining tour and someone that’s been touring for as long as Midland knows what they’re doing, and we should take that with a lot of importance and try to apply it to our team.”
Westbrook, who will also hop on tours with Eli Young Band, Cole Swindell, and Ian Munsick later this year, has only been releasing music for a little under a year. And, while he has plenty to learn, he has seen his star grow in a short amount of time.
The 20-year-old red dirt riser, whose debut single “House Again” impacted country radio in late March, claims over 178 million global streams and counting. He averages almost 10 million streams per week, according to a press release. For his current headlining tour, he has had to upgrade several venues due to high demand. But that hasn’t stopped him from staying humble and mindful of getting better each time.
“Before every show, we pray. And I always say if we mess up, let it be a lesson. That’s the number one thing I try to preach to my band is, if we mess up, good because at a higher level, it’s not going to — I’d rather do it now than do it later,” Westbrook said. “I think that we’re very prepared, I think the songs are there [and] I think that my confidence is there because I was asked to stand in front of 1800 people for my first concert. It was a free show, and now I’m like, I want 1800 people there. I want 10,000 people, 20,000 people, just as many people as I can connect with.”
He continued, “I think the most overwhelming part that can come along with that is trying to make everyone feel heard and make sure everyone had their own experience at the concert because I’m so thankful for people showing up that I want them to feel my thankfulness as well. And even at 300-cap venues, I’m saying the same thing. I’m like, thank you all for coming. Thank y’all for spending all the time with me.”
On top of his opening slots for other artists, Westbrook has a large list of summer dates on the books, performing a mix of festivals and headline shows. His headlining Take Your Time Tour runs through May 31 before he kicks off his summer slew of shows.
