Across the Pond Spotlight: Callum Kerr — Texas Country with a Scottish Heart
In the heart of downtown Nashville during CMA Fest weekend, fans packed into Category 10, Luke Combs’ brand-new venue on 2nd Avenue, for a groundbreaking two-day showcase: Country Goes Global. Designed to highlight rising international talent, the event served as a high-energy crossroads for cultures, creativity, and country roots — and for Scotland’s Callum Kerr, it was a full-circle moment.
Inside the green room, as the sounds from Riverfront Stage echoed in the background, I sat down with the charming and quick-witted Kerr for a candid chat as part of my brand-new podcast series, Across the Pond.
“When I was growing up in Edinburgh, country music was pretty rare,” he shared. “We’d get the big ones like Garth Brooks or Shania Twain, maybe the occasional Rascal Flatts track, but that was it. Honestly, most people kind of made fun of it.”
That all changed when Kerr moved to Texas at 17. His then-boss handed him a playlist stacked with Wade Bowen, Cody Johnson, Parker McCollum, and Mike Ryan — Texas country legends on the rise at the time. “I fell in love instantly,” he said. “It felt real. These guys weren’t pop stars. They were rock stars with stories.”
Kerr’s musical obsession led him to Nashville, where he now records and performs under a unique dual career — musician and actor. You may recognize him from his role on the Fox series Monarch, where he played (no surprise) a Texas country singer.
“That role changed everything,” he said. “I thought — if I can play a country artist as a Scottish guy, why not actually be one?”
He signed with Huff Co (the new label from legendary producer David Huff) in partnership with ONErpm, which now handles his distribution and marketing. But Kerr is just as real off the stage as he is on it.
“I record the songs that speak to me — whether I wrote them or not. If they feel like my life, I cut them.”
His single “Cold Beer Cold” was an early favorite — a lighthearted barroom tale inspired by Toby Keith and tongue-in-cheek heartbreak. His upcoming release, “Whatever Gets You There,” set to drop this Friday (6/13), shifts gears into more sultry, romantic territory. The single also sets the stage for Kerr’s debut EP, Roots Under Me, arriving July 25 — a project that promises to blend his Texas inspirations with stories from both sides of the Atlantic.
“It’s a love song — or more like a making love song,” he laughed. “The Huffs produced the hell out of it.”
And if you’re wondering whether he’s still acting — the answer is yes. “Music is my main thing now, but I started as an actor, and I still love it. Honestly, Charles Esten is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met — and I’ve got a little man crush,” he joked.
Back on the Country Goes Global stage, Kerr represented Scotland with pride, joining a lineup of artists from Australia, Korea, Canada, Israel, and more. The event, produced by The AristoMedia Group and Peter Conway Management, is quickly becoming a CMA Fest must-see for fans looking to discover country talent from every corner of the globe.
“It means the world to be part of something like this,” Kerr said. “To go from hearing one or two songs in Edinburgh, to now playing them in Nashville — it’s unreal.”
🎙️ Across the Pond — Episode #2 featuring Callum Kerr — drops soon!
