How Max McNown’s Girlfriend Inspired His Breakthrough Hit — And Gave Him ‘A Lot of Encouragement’

As singer-songwriter Max McNown prepared to release his country-folk love song “Better Me For You (Brown Eyes)” last November, he felt reluctant to share such a vulnerable single about his girlfriend of nearly two years. But the track quickly resonated with fans, becoming his first entry on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and the Billboard Hot 100 — and soon, the 23-year-old’s perspective changed.

“I wasn’t expecting a song that is so specifically about my girlfriend to do so well,” he reflects. “It gives me a lot of encouragement to keep writing personal songs about my life.”

McNown wrote “Better Me For You” in May 2024 during a session with Trent Dabbs, Ava Suppelsa and writer-producer Jamie Kenney, at the lattermost’s Nashville-area studio. At the time, McNown had a basic melody, a simple concept and the written phrase, “I didn’t know you’d have brown eyes,” which became central to the song’s chorus.

“Ava asked me more about my girlfriend, like, ‘What do you love about her?’” McNown remembers. “It’s about wanting to be a better person, because you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody.”

While McNown and his collaborators completed writing the hit-to-be in that session, slow-burning success from his summer 2023 ballad “A Lot More Free” allowed his team more time to build momentum. The prior bittersweet acoustic single — and title track to his debut EP released at the same time — gained traction in fall 2024, entering the top 30 on Hot Country Songs. It has more recently crossed over to alternative and pop formats, reaching a No. 8 high on Adult Pop Airplay.

“He hadn’t gone on any big tours yet, and ‘A Lot More Free’ was blowing up,” says McNown’s uncle and manager, Brandon Ebel, president of Tooth & Nail Records and Solid State Records, of opting to hold on releasing a follow-up single. “We wanted to wait for the perfect time.”

McNown and his team teased “Better Me For You” on social media in October, focusing on the chorus — and more specifically, his phrase about brown eyes. Seeing fans referring to the song as such in comment sections, they quickly added the words to the song title ahead of its Nov. 15 release.

“It already had thousands of people using the sound on [Instagram] and TikTok,” Ebel says, adding that they invested the bulk of McNown’s budget into advertising with online marketing campaigns, including on social media platforms.

But even before the backing support from his team, McNown had already proved his internet savvy. When the Oregon native moved to California in 2022, he was given his father’s old guitar and slowly learned hit songs by Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers. He began to busk on the San Clemente Pier within a few months of arriving, and at the suggestion of a friend, soon posted those covers online. After gaining a following, he self-released “Freezing in November,” a solo write, in 2023, which signaled to Ebel that McNown was ready for the next step.

“He’d written a few other songs we thought were good, so I said, ‘As a favor, I’ll fly you down to Nashville and we can record a couple of songs,’” Ebel says. “I also had a couple of writers at my publishing company [Fugitive Song Publishing], and they agreed to write with him.” One of those early sessions yielded “A Lot More Free.”

That September, McNown auditioned for American Idol but didn’t proceed with the show despite advancing in the competition. He wanted the space to continue building his discography — and his team. He had signed with Fugitive Recordings and inked a partnership with The Orchard in 2023 a few months before releasing his debut EP. McNown then moved to Nashville in 2024 and released debut album Wandering. This January, he signed a deal with Columbia Records — and released follow-up album Night Diving the same month, which included “Better Me For You.”

As his team took shape, so did a promotional strategy for success. He’s been able to experiment with various methods, ultimately landing on a Mount Rushmore of success stories that he continues to push on his socials. “‘Better Me For You’ is one of the ‘core four,’ ” McNown says. “That one, [May single] ‘Same Questions,’ ‘A Lot More Free’ and [2024’s] ‘Love Me Back.’ They seem to take off every time I post them on social media, so that has changed the approach. There’s maybe one post of each of those a week.”

A month before the official release of “Better Me For You,” the team focused on opportunities at radio for McNown as well, Ebel says. “We put out feelers to see their feedback,” he remembers. “As soon as it came out and started streaming very well, we decided to go to country radio.”

The decision proved to be wise: “Better Me For You” became his first Country Airplay entry on the chart dated Feb. 22 and has yet to leave the chart since. The following month, it surfaced on Hot Country Songs and reaches a new No. 28 high on this week’s chart. In June, boosted by its growing radio presence, “Better Me For You” debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 98, and has spent five weeks on the chart.

McNown hopes to continue his hot streak with an extended cut of Night Diving — titled Night Diving (The Cost of Growing Up) — out July 18 through Fugitive Recordings/The Orchard/Columbia Records. Plus, he’ll follow up performances this year at CMA Fest and Boston Calling with a set at Lollapalooza in Chicago before launching his 30-show headlining Forever Ain’t Long Enough Tour. As McNown looks ahead, Ebel reflects on how far the rising star has already come.

“He’s the whole package: A songwriter, a lyricist, a performer,” Ebel says. He immediately becomes reflective, recalling an opening set his nephew played last year: “He’d never played harmonica live, but 30 minutes before he went onstage, he was like, ‘I’m going to play harmonica on “A Lot More Free”’ and just dominated. That was the moment I knew, ‘This kid’s going to be big.’ ”

A version of this story appears in the July 19, 2025, issue of Billboard.