Neal McCoy called into The Bobby Bones Show to talk about the new book he’s part of, how he got discovered and more!
McCoy has been doing the Pledge of Allegiance on his Facebook page for over3,000 days. Someone tried to put him in the Gunnies Book of World Records, but since not every country has one, they couldn’t include him. He didn’t start doing it to create a streak or break a record, he did it for people to show respect and love to their country. He admitted he is tired and hasn’t been able to sleep in for over 8 years! McCoy is part of the new book, Country Faith Christmas: 50 Reflections & Recipes from Leading Country Music Stars. He was reached out to be apart of the book and since he’s part Filipino so he included a Filipino recipe for Pancit. He admitted he does not make it a lot, but when he does, his wife loves it.
McCoy recalled how early on in his career he used to play shows with almost no one in the crowd. He said his worst show ever was when he had a four piece band and they were put in the corner of a club and he was working hard to try and get the crowd involved. About thirty minutes in, he asked his band how much time they had left because he wanted to start packing up the minute it was over. Charley Pride is the first artist who gave him his first big opportunity. In 1981 he won a contest in Dallas, Texas and the judges worked with Pride and asked them to meet. Two weeks later, McCoy and his wife met with Pride and had mutual respect for each other. Pride then asked him to open his shows for him and told him he could use his band for about 20 minutes and then when he’d get off stage he could sell merchandise. So that’s exactly what McCoy did and when he’d get done selling the merchandise, he’s watch Pride perform and learned a lot like how to be silly and not take yourself too seriously on stage. McCoy continued to play shows with Pride all over the world for the next five years.
Hubert Neal McGaughey Jr., is his real name, but no one could pronounce his last name correctly, so in 1988 he changed it to McGoy so it looked the way it sounded. But in 1990 when he signed with Atlantic Records, they thought it was a misprint and called him McCoy and asked if he’d have a problem if he made that his stage name. He’s gone by McCoy for 34 years now. McCoy has done 17 USO Tours and shared he was in Afghanistan in 2001 right after 9/11 happened and the American troops came into that area, but he was rushed out due to an emergency. Any USO Tour where he gets an opportunity to perform or to meet those serving, it’s worth it to him.
Country Faith Christmas: 50 Reflections & Recipes from Leading Country Music Stars is out now!