One of the hottest acts in country music is singer-songwriter Parker McCollum, a two-time nominee for this year’s the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards, set for May 16 at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco. It’s the second year in a row the venue has hosted the star-studded event, this year emceed by Reba McEntire and featuring performances by Miranda Lambert, Cody Johnson, and Jelly Roll.
McCollum’s nominations for Single of the Year and Visual Media of the Year for his hit "Burn It Down" – a painfully passionate song about ending a relationship – are his first since winning the ACM Award for New Male Artist of the Year in 2021.
But the 31-year-old Conroe, Texas native is far from new to the country music scene. Ever since his 2015 debut album, The Limestone Kid, he's built a cult fanbase in Texas that’s followed him from dive bars to headlining at arenas and stadiums like Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.
In anticipation of the ACM show, the “Gold Chain Cowboy” shares his thoughts on making the crossover from Texas Country to Nashville, songwriting, becoming a dad, and what’s on his current playlist.
(Interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
CM: How have you maintained credibility with Texas Country fans having crossed over into the Nashville music scene? You now rub elbows with folks like Reba McEntire and Jason Aldean, yet they’re still playing you on Texas Country radio station 95.9 The Ranch.
McCollum: I think there are a lot of people on both sides of the fence that really dig what I’ve always done, and there’s probably a lot of people on both sides who’ve never really dug it at all. The handmade, hand tooled songwriters, songs, and records are what I’ve always admired and what I’ve tried to emulate. When I signed a major record deal, (tenured Texas Country star) Randy Rogers was the one taking me up to Nashville and said, “Hey man, you can do it on this level – and you should.” If he hadn’t pushed me to do that, I probably wouldn’t have. It gave me a whole new perspective on what was possible in the music business as a songwriter and performer and a creator.
But I was aware of some of the guys I grew up listening to in Texas Country that were kind of shunned for going to Nashville and signing major record deals. I really just didn’t care. When I signed my record deal, I didn’t announce it. I was like, I’m going to do the exact same thing I’ve always done, just with a record label behind me.
CM: Maybe that’s why your core fanbase – while it’s obviously grown – has stayed consistent because you’re staying who you’ve always been.
McCollum: It’s just writing songs. my first two albums sound like a kid who had to take out a loan to make a record. That was a huge step for me at that time in my life.
But I looked up to guys like George Strait, John Mayer, and Randy Travis, and their records sounded perfect. I wanted to sign a record deal and have country music records that sounded perfect and had big budgets. There are some people who don’t like that, but I really like it. I’ve always had in the forefront of my mind making sure the people I looked up to would approve of what I’m doing at anytime in my career, and that’s what’s held me down.
CM: You have two ACM Award nominations this year for your latest hit, Burn it Down. What's the inspiration for the song?
McCollum: I wrote it with the Love Junkies, three ladies that are immensely talented: Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, and Liz Rose. I really don’t enjoy co-writing – I like to force myself to be creative. But I’ve found some people who write from the same place that I do.
We wrote the song at my house in Nashville. I wasn’t really looking to burn anything down. I started playing this melody over and over again. I love being very dramatic – just rip your heart out and go find those feelings that really make people remember. You remember your lowest times and your hardest times the most, so I try to write songs that kind of cater to that and hopefully get people through those situations.
When I started to have that image in my head of starting it all over, really burning it down, and that desperate, you’re at your wits end, almost psychotic (feeling), I just really dug into that, and they did, too. We tried to be poetic without being too weird with it and I think we accomplished that goal.
CM: What’s on your personal playlist right now?
McCollum: "There’s No Way" by Alabama has been on repeat lately. "80's Ladies" by K.T. Oslin has been on repeat lately. "Champagne Moments" by Rick Ross. "Kentucky Bluebird" by Keith Whitley. I’m all over the place when it comes to what I’ve been listening to.
CM: You’re going to be a dad in August to a baby boy. How is everything going so far?
McCollum: God’s been so good to us. He’s just blessed us with pretty much a flawless situation so far. He’s got his little nursery just down the hall from my office now. I walk by and I’m like, “Alright, there’s a crib in there. We’re really having a kid.”
It feels like it’s time. I’ve done whatever I’ve wanted to do, whenever I’ve wanted to do it for a long time. And as fun as that is, I’m ready for the next phase of life and the next chapter. And I had the greatest dad in the world. For God to give me the opportunity to be at least half of that for this little boy gets me pretty excited. It makes it so much easier to know that Hallie Ray is going to be the greatest mom. I mean, she was born to be this. That takes a lot of weight off my shoulders.
CM: Do you have any plans to put a guitar in his hands as soon as he’s old enough, or maybe a baseball bat or something?
McCollum: As soon as we can throw the ball in the yard, we will. Even to this day, something that I do backstage outside my tour bus is throw a football, baseball, or frisbee. If he wants to play guitar and be a country singer, good luck. But he will have absolutely impeccable manners. That’s something I look forward to passing along.
Parker McCollum/Facebook
Texas native Parker McCollum is up for two ACM Awards on May 16.
Parker McCollum will headline a pre-ACM awards show concert, ACM Lifting Lives LIVE, at Top Golf in The Colony on May 15. Tickets are $150 and include performances by Old Dominion, Jordan Davis, Kameron Marlowe, Ashley Cooke, and more.
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