- 13 hours ago
Nicole sits down with Parker McCollum for one of his most candid conversations yet. From jumping off a call “finishing cookie sleeves,” to skipping the CMA Awards for prime deer-stand weather, Parker keeps it real from the very first minute.
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MusicTranscript
00:00hello
00:05nicole this is parker mccall i'm sorry i was on a call that took way too long
00:10were you or were you just finishing your cookie sleeve
00:12no those are those are the greatest mass-produced cookies in the history of
00:17baked goods but now i was on another call and it just they were taking their sweet time i was
00:22like man i got nicole waiting i was like i gotta get on the telephone
00:24no it's okay annie texted me she's like parker's running behind him it's okay i'm just on his
00:29instagram story see what he's posting about today yeah i got out of the deer stand i had me some
00:33cookies and milk i'm about to go back yeah more importantly before we talk about you know you're
00:37about to have another number one have you talked to lane johnson what is his injury status is he
00:42playing sunday night i have not talked to lane i try to try to kind of give him a space i mean i know
00:48he's got people reaching out like crazy you know so yeah it's one of our favorite fun facts about
00:53you that you guys are buddies and so obviously did you watch monday night um i watched most of it i
00:58ended up i was getting up at five ago the deer stand so i ended up cutting out about the beginning
01:02of the fourth quarter and that game was about exciting as watching paint dry so if it was the
01:08houston texans i'd have been watching it down to the wire and i stayed up to watch the highlights two
01:11or three times in a row by the way congratulations i saw that i mean that was a crazy game they beat
01:15the jags that was a big win thank you football gods we needed that ball game we didn't need it we
01:23had to have it yes yes well i love in the beginning of the season so obviously i'm in philly and we're
01:29big sports people here and so you were like on your instagram story in your dark man cave being like
01:34do you know what a touchdown is because our team has not but yeah so anyway congratulations on the
01:44texans win if you hear from lane feel free to call me let me know how are you by the way
01:48lee i'm so good i appreciate you asking how are you i'm good i'm good i'm excited are you going
01:53to be at the cmas next week no ma'am i will be in my deer stand damn you're not doing all right well
01:58i'm glad that we got to chit chat i'm taking the year off nicole yeah i'm taking the year off the
02:01whole year so oh just the cmas just the cmas yeah well it's and it's it's right in the middle of like
02:09prime time like yeah the days that the cmas are is like the day you need to be in the deer stand
02:16but how do you know that is there like an app that tracks deer no i mean you hunt your whole
02:22life and you know what days are good you know what days you got to be out there it's weather
02:25dependent but i mean it's going to fall somewhere in that three day span is going to be absolutely
02:31incredible so priorities first now yeah and good luck it is kind of random that deer season is like
02:39right before christmas you know with like the reindeer and all but you know i guess i gotta clear
02:43the path i just kind of thought you know i'm a reindeer i that's true that is true that's true
02:48we're hunting whitetail deer which i don't think would do very good in front of santa sleigh but
02:52do you eat it no it's the best time of year wait in texas you grew up in texas obviously did you
02:58because i grew up in the poconos which is like two hours north of philly and we had off every monday
03:04the first monday of deer hunting season is that a thing in texas too you don't get the day off but
03:10you know probably gonna get out of school early don't you think that's weird though pennsylvania
03:14out of all states they give school closed you don't think that's weird for pennsylvania no i
03:19think that's an unbelievably cool like uh old school tradition yeah and it's cool let's talk
03:24everybody hunted back in the day like they got to that was a big deal yeah the season's open you're
03:29going to you're going to me you ain't gonna eat if you don't winters are cold up there in philly
03:33it is that is true that is true all right so i am fully obsessed with your album now we
03:40chit-chatted in person when you were here for george street and chris stapleton and you played
03:47us a couple songs then you called me like the next week like we've been chatting a lot about this album
03:51i've told your record people this i've fully admitted i think i might have told you this i'm
03:55not necessarily an album person like i'm a radio personality so i like the hits you have a lot of hits
04:00but this album you and i talk so much about it and you're like i love the story when you told me
04:05you were like i had this album halfway done and i scrapped it i was like this isn't what i want you
04:10flew to new york you got a new producer you did this whole thing and i was like i gotta give this
04:14album a whole thing so it comes out end of june i'm not even lying because i'm not a liar this was
04:19the first album obviously i listened to a lot of albums like we you know we have amazing artists on
04:23our stations but i like songs more than albums but i'm not even lying to you i swear to god this was the
04:29first album and i even texted annie and summer who's your record reps i go this is the first
04:33album where i listened to it from top to bottom that i literally said out loud parker oh he's telling
04:39a story it was the first album that i ever got the way that you structured the album from the first
04:45song to the last song it's a story basically about your life and it's so good thank you you know
04:51it's the result of me as an artist when i really get my together okay when i really focus when i'm
05:02really committed i'm like man i'm gonna go make this record not i'm gonna record some songs until
05:08i have enough to put out a record i'm gonna like i went to new york to make that record yeah and you
05:14said you used a live band which a lot of people don't realize that's pretty rare nowadays yeah i mean
05:19which i've always done that wasn't anything new for me it was new guys there was new players that
05:24i'd never met before until i walked into the studio so it was just a brilliant you know you think about
05:30like a little kid trying to do a science experiment just taking a you know a beaker and throwing
05:35everything you can find under the kitchen sink into it that's kind of what we did and it was just
05:40we got lucky and it was a perfect mixture but i appreciate you giving it the time to listen to it all
05:45the way top to bottom because it's exactly how it was designed and put together so i was engineered
05:50well it's so funny because obviously like i've met you a couple times we've chit-chatted a couple times
05:55when i listened to the album i was like this is art like this is so good and so deep and i was like and
06:01then he posts on his instagram story i'm like it is so different than this album and then i was like
06:07i had a i'm like what's his sign i'm like oh parker's a gemini this makes total sense split
06:13personalities yes it makes total sense i was like he posts crazy on his instagram story but then he
06:19made this beautiful piece of art that's like the album of the year in my opinion and most people that
06:25i've talked to that are in country agree that it's just it's so good and so anyway i just thought that
06:30was so funny when i looked up that you were a gemini i was like this makes total sense i feel
06:33validated well i mean that literally makes my whole day to know that you gave it any amount of
06:41time whatsoever and you responded to it so much because that is you know it's crazy what you can do
06:46when you really like it that was this record was as focused and committed and a little bit desperate
06:51to find the buzz again for myself creatively okay that makes sense like i needed to feel i needed to
06:58fall in love with it again go get so so lost musically and find my way home uh it's cliche
07:05that sounds it's such a great way to describe it because it's really what it's like no i don't think
07:09that's cliche at all in fact i think what you just said a couple minutes ago where you said i didn't
07:14want to record songs i wanted to make an album and i think a lot of people don't realize there's a
07:20difference to that a lot of listeners listen to music right and let's be honest like you are a you're a big
07:26deal you're pretty famous right now and a lot of people like like oh i just like these songs are
07:30like oh he's hot like i like his vibe on stage or whatever it is right but like there's a difference
07:36of and a lot of people don't realize that like what goes in when you're creating an album versus
07:41writing songs and i think that's why i was so impressed with the album because there's a difference
07:46between recording a song a lot of artists especially at your caliber when you've had hits you know what's
07:52going to be a hit right and there's a lot of artists that write hits and that's awesome like
07:57that's awesome that people want to still put out hit songs and make people want to shake their ass
08:01in the summer but then there's a difference of like like you said finding that creative process
08:06and like writing an album that speaks to your soul and you definitely mastered that with this so
08:12congratulations you're you are flying up my people that i like the most board right now
08:20so fast thanks um you just went from number two to number one in record time oh well i appreciate
08:29that now this is where can you please put big sky as the next single can you talk to the people
08:34because i'm upset as i've listened it's going to be on my spotify wrapped i know i shouldn't talk
08:40about spotify i'm talking about radio but it's probably going to be the number one song so i'll tag
08:43you obviously but how do we get that i appreciate that you know what did you know what's so funny
08:48about that song is when we were in the studio we've been there like three or four days and i
08:51had that song and nobody had heard it at all wow okay and i made a chart for it which is just to
08:59show them what to play and how and like you know when to play it is essentially what a chart is yeah
09:04and i just said hey let's just go in and y'all just play this chart and see what comes of it
09:09there was no demo they listened to there was no they like usually they wouldn't listen a little
09:13but i would sit down i'd play the song acoustic and then we'd go in and record it or we'd be in
09:16recording and i'd just start playing the song acoustic and they would just fall in that's how
09:19we cut the whole record that's so cool but for that one song i was like hey just go play what's
09:25on this paper because they have no idea what the words are they don't know what the vibe is they
09:29don't know what it's about they don't know what it's supposed to be or what it could be so you're
09:34just trusting them to follow your lead basically yeah just let this rip and see and when they did i
09:40was like and they uh nick bachroth who plays guitar for casey elephant he was playing guitar on the
09:44record some and he came in the control room and he's like that's a hit yes it's a first listen
09:50hit raz and i have this thing that i tell raz when i hear a song for the first time i'm like first
09:54listen hit and there's only a handful of songs that like when i listen to the first time and i
09:58the first time i heard that i was like this is a smash i'm obsessed with this song in fact i might
10:02go rogue and just and just play it on the air why not screw it it's my show i'm telling you number
10:08one on the people i like um but i also like so i'm on the air in boston too so i do philly and
10:15boston and so the line where it's like head up to boston gonna stand in the cold i was like oh my god
10:20it hits so good it it's like what does that say we're like there's some lines and songs it just hits
10:27you know what i mean and there's that song has so many i don't know plus it's like soulful i think
10:32that's a very soulful song too you're showing like your swag a little bit in that song i tend to like
10:37more like soulful swaggy songs and i feel like that has a lot of soul to it as well i mean do you
10:42really listen i'm i do i'm telling you i'm a how many people i talk to that i can just tell
10:47immediately that they have no idea what the music really is oh of course 100 and i will be honest
10:54nice nicole top notch i just really because we talked about the album a couple times before it came
11:02out i'm an energy person and i could pick up on people's energy and like i just could tell how
11:08passionate and serious you were about it and it's also with such a breath of fresh air because and
11:12i'm not knocking any artist we're very fortunate we have amazing people in the country but wink wink
11:17but the fact that you didn't sing about a tractor and a red solo cup you appreciate it yes like never
11:24have by the way right like your album it's like it's real art it's music it was it's chef's kiss
11:30parker mccullum chef's kiss all right so number one and if you got to pick the next single what
11:36would it be i mean it should be big sky but i won't put maddie if you want something else
11:39i'll take that one out just because we just said it probably killing me oh yeah that's a good that's
11:44a sexy song too yeah yeah i guess a lot of people say that i certainly didn't mean that think of that
11:51when i was cutting it okay what did you think i didn't like it it seemed it seemed a little
11:58i didn't like the you know the uh black dress uh slips all like i feel like that's been written
12:05so much but the more we cut it i was like that's what it has to say yeah well i also think it's like
12:12it's okay to you don't have to be john prine every time yeah it's okay for like simple straight to the
12:20point as long as the production and the melody are still have great integrity and they're original
12:25you know the sentiment of the song is can be something you know that is familiar and you have
12:31you do understand and you do know about and you don't have to think about so much yeah well also i
12:36think that image the black dress people immediately know what you're trying to say about that it's
12:43such a cultural image to people that i think it's getting naked yeah we're getting naked like let's
12:48get in the song you know what i mean so i think it helps people with the structure of the song
12:51kind of like we just made a music video for it too so i think that'd be pretty cool okay let's
12:56talk about christmas really quick so you're gonna be on the cma's country christmas when did you film
13:01that was that like in the summer was it recently it was recently it's probably a month ago oh okay
13:05that's cool that's coming out december 2nd and then you recorded santa claus is coming to town is that
13:10a new recording or did you just put it out specifically for this that's a new recording i swore i would
13:15never do christmas music and they got me it's good you're a dad i'm playing a song on tv but when we
13:22were doing the tv thing they're like apple music was like hey will you go in and record it for our
13:26christmas deal and i'm like yeah sure but you're a dad like christmas is so much more exciting now
13:33right yeah but it's christmas music it's like there's enough of it you know yeah but you have such
13:38a distinct voice it's not the same right like it's a different vibe now how do you feel about
13:45people decorating early because december 2nd is still i guess love it you do love it interesting
13:50i love christmas too but i think it's still too there's still fall leaves on the trees here in
13:59philly anyway and i'm like everybody yeah yeah all right well fine i'll give you that you know it's
14:04like little boosie he never takes his christmas trees down he's got two platinum christmas trees
14:09in his living room he never takes them down there is something to be said about it provides like a
14:14an energy when you see a tree it's like kind of calming and it just when i come home from hunting
14:19and the christmas trees lit up i'm like i mean but wait you don't help you don't help decorate
14:24i do if if i'm home okay they're putting our lights up today if that tells you anything
14:29so you're gonna get home and everything's gonna be done like ornaments are gonna be on the tree and
14:34everything i'd like it to be that one so what do you do oh you ride the tractor i guess you like
14:39post it you like cut the grass right i mean i love my lawn work okay and i've got a massive i mean i've
14:46got four acres of lawn yeah so you're into that that's a lot of just lawn care uh right right well
14:54yeah i mean if most of the time when i'm home i'm trying to slip away to the ranch as soon as i can
14:58i got a ranch in oklahoma and a ranch in texas my family's got two ranches in east texas so
15:02how far is that from your house uh the one in oklahoma is about nine ten hours and then uh
15:07oh wow that's far yeah hit record ranch is like two hours from my house okay so that's not too bad
15:13fly to the one in oklahoma and i drive to the one in texas and what do you do just sit there are you
15:18by yourself or do you have people with you uh i've got a friend of mine with me okay and uh we're just
15:23sitting every morning and every evening in trees trying to shoot big deer with our bow and arrows
15:27and do you write during this time like or do you use this as a way to kind of escape from music
15:33the creative juices flow a lot more natural here like it'll just i'm inevitably going to be coming
15:42up with melodies and lyrics as i'm out here i don't do it when i'm in the rat race that makes a lot of
15:48sense as in i could see like i'm not sitting down to write i'm just going about my day doing my thing
15:52and it's popping into my head it never stops okay since i can remember remembering i've had
15:57melodies and lyrics coming into my head and making stuff up just freestyling and rhyming all day
16:03every day since i can remember that's just how your brain is wired which makes sense why you are who you
16:07are and do you put that like in your notes app or do you like do a voice note yeah i just record it on
16:12my phone i'll just start singing it on my and i'll just mumble you know like yeah you know salt in the
16:16river moonlight on the trees out here forever you wouldn't believe and i just sing that and then
16:24like sometime next summer i'll go listen to it and try to write something that's awesome well
16:28parker always a pleasure upset that i won't see you next week at the cmas but you've been very busy
16:34this year so i know that you're excited for your dears but we will see your face december 2nd
16:39on cma country christmas yes ma'am i'm assuming you're gonna go back on tour spring and summer
16:44right like can you tell us anything about that or no uh we have dates announced our winter tour
16:48has been announced yeah but you're not here january you're like in the south we are not i know i don't
16:54think you're going anywhere on the east coast like we like you too you know up here and we are coming
16:58to see you i can assure you at some point in 2026 i will be within a short cars drive away at the very
17:03most good all right awesome well because i won't see you until then merry christmas and um
17:10congratulations on the album it's fantastic i'm going to keep my foot on the gas to try to get
17:16big skies a single if not i'm gonna go rogue and play it and congratulations obviously on what kind
17:22of man because unbelievable interview oh well thanks that was this is like really really really
17:28good thanks no you are you are also my interview is only as good as what you give me so this was a
17:34fun conversation you were super chatty i'll take that and you know i also think that it helps that
17:40that your album's really good you know if your album sucked i'd probably be like and congratulations
17:44on the text and see you later my girl thank you nicole you're welcome parker take care yes ma'am
17:49see ya
17:57you
17:59you
18:01you
18:03you
18:05you
18:09you
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