Max McNown carries memories of the Pacific Northwest wherever he goes.

“Our favorite camping spot was up in Washington at Lake Merwin,” recalls the rising country music star during an interview with Seattle magazine. “We would pack the car to the brim, fill it with all of my siblings and my parents, and we would meet a bunch of cousins there.” And then, the fun would ensue. “We would go fishing on the docks where the campsite was, and we’d swim. When I was young, we had a boat, so we’d go tubing and wake boarding,” remembers McNown, a West Linn, Oregon native who also loved hiking at Multnomah Falls. “I was very blessed to be raised in the outdoors and within the forests of the Northwest.”

The 24-year-old hitmaker of songs such as the Platinum-certified single “A Lot More Free” and Gold-certified “Better Me For You (Brown Eyes)” already misses those good times. “If I could go back and experience all of that again, I would do it in a heartbeat,” he says quietly. “Those experiences are part of who I am. You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.”

It’s memories like these that fill McNown as he navigates the chaotic life of a star on the rise. He released his deluxe album Night Diving (The Cost of Growing Up) in July and is now on an almost sold-out run of shows as part of his Forever Ain’t Long Enough Tour, including an Oct. 17 stop at The Showbox in Seattle. “We’re playing 150 shows in 2025, so counting off days, that’s roughly two-thirds of the year that I’m not even in Nashville, let alone my home in the Northwest,” he says.

And while McNown may love living in Nashville, his obvious adoration for the Pacific Northwest can not only be heard in his voice, but in every lyric and note. “I try my very best to channel my upbringing into my music,” says McNown of the creative infusion that can be heard in songs such as “St. Helens Alpenglow,” “A Lot More Free” and “Azalea Place.” “It has heavily affected my music.”

McNown was just 21 when he moved from Oregon to California in the hopes of building a music career. “I had lived there for 21 years, and one of the downsides of the Pacific Northwest is the nine months of rain and clouds,” laughs McNown, who had long looked up to Oregon-based artist Matt Kearney. “So, when I moved to Southern California, I was just looking for something different.” He spent about eight months there and found some success busking on the pier in San Clemente. But life in California was expensive, so he moved back to Bend before he ultimately landed in Nashville at 23.

“My Pacific Northwest brand was already being established as the foundation before I moved to Nashville,” says McNown, who made his debut at Lollapalooza this past summer. “Because I think if you don’t have a foundation, whatever you build might not be the truest version of yourself. There’s so much influence and temptation in Nashville to fit into what everyone else is doing.” But he’s far from falling for that. “The Pacific Northwest is in my soul—it has made me who I am,” he says. “I want to keep that with me in my personal life, and in my music.”

And while the future only looks to get busier, McNown has a plan to eventually return home to the Pacific Northwest for more than a tour stop. “I have a very intentional plan to reconnect with the Northwest as soon as things slow down a little bit,” he says. “Once I can start to slow down the construction of the snowball we’re trying to build, I really want to reconnect, whether that’s moving back, or having a home for the summer in Oregon. I’m not sure.”

Luckily, the Pacific Northwest isn’t going anywhere. “Not much makes me more excited than to think about taking my kids there someday. I really want to be intentional about giving that to my family, just like it was given to me.”

Max McNown plays The Showbox in Seattle on Oct. 17 at 9 p.m. Tickets are available here.