Brian McKnight talks music and muses ahead of Atlanta show

When Brian McKnight takes the stage in metro Atlanta this weekend, he’ll be singing all the songs fans want him to sing. And that’s just fine by him.

"It’s funny when I hear artists talk about songs they may be ‘tired’ of singing," says the Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter. "There isn’t one song that I’ve written and performed that I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m so tired of singing that.’"

Which is a good thing, since his songs are some of the most romantic in pop music history. McKnight has already carried compositions like "Anytime," "Back at One," and "Once Last Cry" to the top of the charts, but the artist says getting married in 2017 changed him as a man and a musician.

"I have a muse, the only subject of my songs since the day we met," says McKnight. "So, it’s a little deeper. All those other songs are very ‘on the surface.’ But when you listen to [latest single] ‘Faithfully,’ you know — ‘I can see our unborn children in your eyes’ — I’d never written a lyric like that before in my life! Never! You can only write that way from experience."

And McKnight says experience tells him it’s time for another kind of change. The artist says he won’t grind to create full albums anymore, instead becoming what he calls a "one-off guy."

"What the pandemic did show us is that we don’t have to work as much. I have 20 albums. Twenty’s a nice, round number. I’ll probably always release singles … because I’m always going to write. Whether I release them or not, is the question. And if I find something that there’s something I want to say, I’ll release it. A whole record? Probably not."

McKnight will take the stage at the Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre Saturday, July 16 at 8 p.m. — for information on tickets, click here.