Oliver Anthony like to talk... A LOT... doesn't he? In a recent video, the "Rich Men North Of Richmond" singer Oliver Anthony shared his thoughts on why he believes the music industry is a joke. After noting that he would step away from music and change his business model to ministry, Oliver Anthony does not hold back his feelings about why he believes the industry is a joke. Seems like such a polite, fun-loving fella for someone who wants to pursue ministry, but I digress... In a recently uploaded 15-minute video, he did not hold back on his feelings. While there was a lot to unpack from that video, one portion that stood out was Anthony calling out an artist for using autotune and backtracking on stage. While he did not name the artist, many fans thought he might be referring to Parker McCollum, as he noted it occurred during a festival at Myrtle Beach and the artist came on after him. The only festival at Myrtle Beach is the Carolina Country Music Fest, and Oliver Anthony played the Thursday night kickoff this year. He was the second-to-last artist on the lineup, which meant the only artist to take the stage after him was Parker McCollum. “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. It’s like, for somebody to pay hundreds of dollars to go listen to like a fake performance…nobody talks about that stuff.” https://twitter.com/Smuphy/status/1865246608092250503 Parker McCollum has seen this video or at least the assumption that he is the artist in question, and wasted no time clearing up that his statement is far from the truth. McCollum took to social media to share a response video from horseback. "Hey guys, per the Oliver Anthony interview or whatever it was claiming that he saw drum loop modular or whatever he called it, I don't even know what that is...100% fabricated lie. Never ever, ever, ever one time have I ever 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. There has never been any single part of our show, not one note, that was not live, raw, and in the moment. 100% fabricated story. That is 100% a lie. That will never change. We will always be out there swinging it as a real band, trying to do our best to respect country music. So, that's all I've got to say on it, and that's where it needs to end." McCollum shared his message loud and clear: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDVTsS7SnKy/?hl=en Parker's good buddy Koe Wetzel, defended him, noting that his shows are nothing but the real deal. As did other Texas artists and friends like Kolby Cooper and William Clark Green. While Anthony seemed confident in his claims, McCollum's quickness to clear it up shuts down Anthony's statement. While it's not uncommon for mainstream country artists to use autotune or get a little help from a drum loop or backing tracks, if you've been to a Parker McCollum show, you know that he's standing at that microphone, singing his heart out every night. He's the real deal who cut his teeth in Texas for YEARS, building up a big audience before he ever got near a Nashville record deal. Before he signed, he was playing venues a lot of major label artists with number ones on mainstream country radio still dream about playing. Oliver on the other hand makes some good points here and there regarding the country music industry, but mostly comes off like a bitter guy who doesn't quite know what he's talking about. Which is ironic since he's pretty much know for one viral song. And since he's seemingly rejected the industry as a whole, what is there to be bitter about? Now, a manager telling him to post a video about Beyonce's album in the hope that they could collaborate some day is ridiculous, and I don't blame Anthony for being pissed about it. But overall, the man talks a lot of shit for someone who doesn't seem to understand how things work in the country music business. Remember when he was trying to book shows and then canceled over ticket prices, and got called out by the venue? It's a small example but it just goes to show you that he's still pretty wet behind the ears... all the more reason to maybe... stop talking so much shit? How many live shows has Oliver even played in his entire life... like 25? 35? Now that McCollum has responded, I will be interested to see if Anthony speaks out again, either confirming or denying that McCollum was the artist he was referring to. On that note, here's Parker live from the Ryman a few years back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X21eHDHxoPM&pp=ygUUcGFya2VyIG1jY29sbHVtIGxpdmU%3D