Max McNown Considers Life and Loss with New single ‘The Cost of Growing Up’

BY: DIGITAL WAX MEDIA STAFF

23-year-old Max McNown has been keeping busy in recent months. Between selling out headline tours both nationally and internationally and delivering highly-sought-after new material to his fans, the RIAA Gold-certified country/folk musician has already had a remarkable year.

McNown has delivered yet again with his most recent release, the brand new single “The Cost of Growing Up,” which explores the dichotomy of life’s most challenging and most celebratory moments, and the significance of both in the grand tapestry of life.

The singer says that the tune is ultimately about acceptance of the less-than-ideal circumstances we are unable to prevent and the appreciation of the joyous moments we are lucky enough to experience.

“To me, the cost of growing up is an acceptance that difficult things are going to happen – from minor inconveniences to devastating loss,” he says. “It’s all a part of life. But there’s also beauty in that because without those hard moments, you wouldn’t be able to truly love.”

The single comes as part of McNown’s ongoing creative quest to find himself as an artist, and is one of eleven tracks that will be brand new to the ears of listeners as part of an expanded release of his sophomore LP, Night Driving.

Night Driving (The Cost of Growing Up) is the more fully realized take on the artist’s second album, which he reveals emerged not quite fully developed.

“Even though Night Driving was the length of a full album, in my heart it never felt complete to me. All these songs were written in the same time period, and my intention was always to have them be one body of work,” he explains.” Since my first EP I’ve been on the hunt to find myself as a musician, and with this album, I’ve officially made something that fully represents me, both sonically and in my songwriting.”

Though listeners will have to wait to hear the remainder of the material to be released as part of Night Driving (The Cost of Growing Up), new single “The Cost of Growing Up is now available for streaming on all major platforms.

Photo: Max McNown by Benjamin Edwards