Parker McCollum joined The Bobby Bones Show to talk about his new single, what life is like being a new dad and more!
A lot has changed in McCollum’s life in the last few years. He moved back to his home state of Texas, which he called the greatest thing he ever did. He explained that he only moved to Nashville during the pandemic because he was scared, he’d be forgotten. He had just gotten his first hit song and was nervous everything he worked for would be gone when the pandemic was over, so he moved to Nashville to make sure he was easily available to the record labels. Although he and his wife really enjoyed living in Nashville, they knew they’d always move back to Texas.
A few weeks ago, a video of McCollum went viral of him doing a type of barrel roll when he fell on stage. He knew the day would come when he would fall on stage, he just hoped he wouldn’t hurt himself when it happened. It was his first show after a two-week break and before he went on stage, he told his manager he did not feel well. But the crowd was so intense when the lights went on that he pulled it together. The fall happened during the first song, but he was able to make it look cool and walked it off well.
McCollum and his wife, Hallie, just welcomed their first child, a boy named Major Yancey Tyler McCollum. Yancey is McCollum’s mother’s maiden name and his middle name and keeping his family name was important to him. He’s always prided himself on representing his family name well in everything he does professionally and personally, so he wanted to keep the family name going. They also chose Tyler because his sister had a bunch of kids and all of the names had been used beside Tyler, so they figured they’d use his and also because he is the one who inspired him to start songwriting. He admitted he has faced some challenges being a new father. His wife had to just by pee-pee teepees because every time he would change his son's diaper, he would pee on him and shoot it over his head.
“Burn It Down” was nominated for Song of the Year at the CMA Awards happening in November, which he shared is special for him because it’s a songwriter's award and songwriting has always been his main focus. McCollum’s new song “What Kind Of Man” he wrote the first verse and chorus in 12 seconds and recorded it into his phone but did not think it was cool enough to keep writing. Then when he went to the studio, he played it, and they continued to write and chose to make it a single. The cover art is from a picture he took while on a hunting trip in Kansas when he came across a little tiny church in the middle of nowhere and that really inspired the song, so it felt fitting to make it the cover art!
“What Kind Of Man” is out now!