Today we’d like to introduce you to McKenna Parr.
McKenna, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Absolutely! I have always loved music, singing and performing since I was a little kid. My dad was a singer/songwriter so he taught me to play guitar and whenever there was a school or church talent show I was immediately all over it. In middle school and high school, songwriting entered the mix and I would use that to process little break ups and such. By my senior year I had some UIL success singing in an All-State choir, so I went on to study music in college and sang in the select choir at my university. I never admitted to myself that I never really liked the classical/opera stuff, but it seemed like that path was all that was available. It took all of one full year to drop all my music courses and switch to marketing, but I still cared enough about singing to continue private classical lessons pass/fail. By the time I finished college, my father had passed away unexpectedly, and I was kicking off a PR career in aerospace. But I was missing music something fierce and refused to face that it was over, so I slowly started coming up with more and more melodies in my head, writing Iphone notes with lyrics but keeping it all to myself, never posting or anything. My faith drives my life choices so I started praying, asking God to either provide me a resource to develop my skills in order to pursue my passion or take away the burning desire to pursue music in a solo artist capacity. The next day (this was Fall 2019), I saw a Facebook post for DM Music Studios – pop singing and songwriting lessons in my area. There are “music schools” all over the place but reading about it, this place was clearly different and I hadn’t previously heard of anything like it, especially where I was living. So I started training there and developed my “mixed voice” for the first time (that was 7 years ago now, and it still shocks me how I got so far musically singing in just my head voice). During that window I went through something suuuuper difficult in my personal life that almost destroyed me, but because of my faith, it actually catapulted me into my first-ever release in 2023. I started off with several one-off singles, but after getting married in 2025, I left my PR job and pivoted to a stronger focus on music as well as serving the community. I most recently launched part 1 of the Red Bluff Series, a 7-part project that is slated to become my life’s work. Part 2 is almost wrapped up and I can’t wait to continue this story.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Parts of it have been smooth, like new opportunities and connections lining up serendipitously. Other parts have been challenging and allowed me a chance to exercise patience and trust the plan. Both are things I attribute to God. I am not exactly known for my patience (yet – we’re getting there!) so when things aren’t moving on my ideal timeline I struggle with the identity side of things, almost like if I’m not constantly cranking out new songs and social content I’m not a real artist. I am a real artist, but I am also a perfectionist still giving my all to being new wife, a volunteer, a homemaker, a friend, a voice coach and more. So it’s been really tricky to figure out the balance family, health, church, etc. Especially with the need in today’s music industry to also be a full time content creator – that is easily the biggest struggle because of the toll it takes on my mental health. But I try to remember that if I let God direct one step at a time time, even when I don’t know where it’s all leading to, things will fall into place and I’ll have new stories to write about.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
In short, I make pop music – writing and singing primarily, and I’m developing my production abilities as well. While my faith is the umbrella under which every one of my endeavors falls, my music cannot be classified as “Christian” based on the subject matter of any given song alone. I write about all kinds of things – family drama, break ups, betrayal, my shortcomings, the beach, my husband. But after my honeymoon in 2o25, I got this really clear vision for a 7-part musical scrapbook (The Red Bluff Series), representing 7 different chapters in my life which all work together to form one cohesive story. So when it comes to my “sound”, each installment will sound pretty different. The first installment, Yorkshire I, was released in May 2026 and pulls in lots of y2k pop elements and melodies. The next installment is currently straddling more pop-r&b & pop-rock so it should be interesting when complete! The goal is to release the different parts chronologically to preserve the integrity of the journey, like the sounds I was consuming during each chapter. Although told through a compilation of my experiences, the story is more about God than it is me. It’s my testimony of His goodness, what He’s brought me through. So right now I believe I’m known for just loving to tell stories through song. But by the end of this series, I hope listeners will have come to know my story more intimately and ultimately see how kind their Creator is.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
One thing I’m not sure people realize from listening is how heavy of a hand I try to have in the production process. I don’t like when a sonic element is just a cool vibe – I like there to always be sentiment and great intention tied to every layer, whether it’s a callback to a sound from my past, an “easter egg” or reference to what/who inspired the song, or audio pulled from a personal voice memo or home video that’s altered for the instrumental. I love that stuff, so it’s important for me to be working with a creative producer that loves trying new and innovative inclusions like that.
Non-musically, I’m a fresh-milled sourdough bread baking baddie, I work weekly with 9th graders at my church, and I do what I can to spread awareness of the horrors of marine mammals in captivity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mckennaparrmusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mckennaparrmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mckennaparrmusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@McKennaParrMusic
