Nashville’s bright country star Parker McCollum chatted about his latest single “Handle On You.”
The song was written by McCollum and Monty Criswell. It is a woeful tune about reeling from a doomed relationship that captures the all-too-relatable emotions of grappling with trying to let go of someone you loved. “The song came about me sitting around trying to write sad country songs,” he said.
“There doesn’t seem to be a ton of traditional country music on the radio right now so I thought I might give it a shot,” he added.
Since exploding onto the country music scene in 2020 with his critically acclaimed and top-selling debut Country EP of the year, Hollywood Gold EP, McCollum has achieved two No. 1 singles (“Pretty Heart” and “To Be Loved By You”) and made his Grand Ole Opry debut and earned his first ACM Award for New Male Artist of the Year and his first CMT Award for “Breakthrough Video of the Year.” “Playing the Opry was really cool,” he said.
Recently, McCollum made another childhood dream of his come true by opening for the “King of Country Music” George Strait, at his show in Kansas City, Missouri, on July 30. Alongside Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town, McCollum fired up the crowd for one unforgettable show with the living country legend. “Opening for George Strait was cool, it was nice to finally do it,” he said.
Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Parker McCollum released his major label debut album, “Gold Chain Cowboy” via MCA. The album follows his Hollywood Gold EP which was met with widespread critical acclaim and became the top-selling debut Country EP of 2020.
McCollum earned his first-ever No. 1 hit with his Platinum-selling premiere single, “Pretty Heart,” and his follow-up single, “To Be Loved By You,” also hit No. 1 on the charts.
“To Be Loved By You” was also the highest first-week debut album of 2021. In November of 2021, McCollum made his first late-night TV appearance performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
A dedicated road warrior, McCollum made his debut at the famed Grand Ole Opry in 2021 and he already sells out venues across the country.
McCollum earned his first ACM award for “New Male Artist” of the Year in March of 2022 in Las Vegas. McCollum also won his first CMT “Breakthrough Video of the Year” award for “To Be Loved by You,” a fully fan-voted honor, in April of 2022. “I had no idea that the ‘Breakthrough Video’ Award was going to happen,” he said. “I didn’t even know it was fan-voted until after I won the award. I didn’t expect to give a speech or anything like that. That was pretty cool to legitimately be surprised.”
On winning the ACM “New Male Artist of the Year” Award, he expressed, “That was good. It is sitting next to me in a box right now.”
His dream duet choices are Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, John Mayer, and George Strait. “Doing a duet with Lee Ann Womack would be badass and so cool, Lee Ann is a superstar,” he added.
He listed “Young Man’s Blues” as his personal favorite song in his catalog.
His favorite motto to live by is “nobody cares, work harder.” “I say that all the time,” he admitted.
He revealed that his favorite cheat meal on the road is waffles, butter, and syrup. “That is pretty good,” he said.
His favorite movies include “The Departed” and “Black Mass,” and he enjoyed the new “Top Gun: Maverick” film. He also likes watching “Cheers” all the time.
He acknowledged that the best advice that he was ever given was to “slow down.”
On the title of the current chapter of his life, he said, “Busy and Tired.”
In his personal life, he is now a married man, and he married Hallie Ray Light in March of 2022. “Being married is great. It has been really good for me,” he said.
“Handle On You” is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
To learn more about Parker McCollum, his new music and tour dates, visit his official website.
