Cameron Whitcomb reflected on the first half of his debut tour, “Quitter,” during an interview before his concert in Columbia, S.C.
Whitcomb, a 21-year-old singer/songwriter from Canada, discusses his music career, songwriting process, and life on the road, and gushes over American food during a pre-show interview on Friday, October 27 at New Brookland Tavern.
“I write songs for a living,” Whitcomb says during his introduction. “I’ve always kinda made noise... but I’d never thought I could pursue it as a career,” he explains when asked how he got into music.
Early in his music career, Whitcomb was scouted by an American Idol casting agent. He made it to the Top 20 on the show before leaving with the motivation to continue pursuing his music career. “I think the rise [of my music career] actually started after American Idol. All Idol did for me was show me that there was more out there than digging holes for a living, ‘cause I used to work on a pipeline,” He explains, “I was like, ‘I just- I can’t dig holes the rest of my life.’” He then reflects on his elimination from American Idol by stating, “[Getting kicked off] Idol was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”
After his time on the reality TV show, he continued making and posting music on social media, where he found great success. He believes his music has become so popular because of his openness to discuss struggle through music. “When people feel like they’re understood, that’s when people really listen,” he says. Much of Whitcomb’s songwriting comes from his own life experiences he explains, “Whenever I’m stumped on something I try to relate it right back to my life.”
Whitcomb believes that not every song lyric should make sense to anyone but himself when describing his writing process: “Nobody needs to understand everything you mean. Cause then, you know, that's half of the songwriting gone out the window. Boring songs are what you get when you understand every little lyric.”
When asked what his musical inspirations are, Whitcomb replies, “I think a lot of it was rap music, and then Tyler Childers [and] Johnny Cash. I’m a music fan... I kinda like it all.” Whitcomb then explains how he has pulled inspiration from Nirvana’s Curt Kobain, saying, “Somebody asked [Cobain] one time, like, ‘what do you mean by this line?’ and he’s like ‘I’m more curious what you think I mean by that line.’ I think a lot of things should be up to interpretation.”
Whitcomb released his debut EP, “Quitter” in July 2024 and has gained over two million monthly listeners on Spotify. Following the success of his album, Whitcomb began his North American tour on Oct. 1, 2024. “The shows are cool ‘cause it’s not just music, it’s also- I'm chatting about a lot of things relating to my life in terms of, you know, my history with addiction and mental health, and that’s really important to me,” He says while reflecting on his recent live performances.
“To tell you the truth, I’ve never experienced better audiences than in the United States,” he says. This tour has been the first time the Canadian singer has performed in the U.S., aside from American Idol. When asked what his favorite city has been during the tour, Whitcomb explains that they rank the cities based on how hard the crowd can mosh during his rendition of “Lithium” by Nirvana. “Denver was the best so far out of the cities,” he said.
Whitcomb then shares what he’s looking forward to during the last half of his tour, saying, “Food. I’m all about the food. I fuckin- That’s what I love about the United States cause you guys always eat so well and you guys cook so well. It’s fucking awesome.” He supports his claim by continuing, “Even last night in Decatur, [G.A.], I got a burger from this one place- I forget what it was even called- but it was just like... One of the best burgers in my entire life.”
“Finding people, you trust is imperative,” Whitcomb explains when telling what he has learned during his career development, “My filmer has been here since the start... he’s been here before I could pay him [...] My guitar player has been with me from the very start. My drummer used to teach me drums when I was 13. My dad drives the bus.” Whitcomb prioritizes important people, expressing his closeness with his bandmates and tour companions.
Whitcomb’s fast career development does not seem to slow him down, as his ambition continues to grow alongside his following. “The next goal is a hit song. ‘Cause a hit song could mean the difference between 300 seaters and 2,000 seaters,” he says, “I’ll just keep trying to get one and keep writing shit that means something to me.”
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