Parker McCollum Rides In as Country’s Next Outlaw With ‘Hollywood Gold’
Parker McCollum Rides In as Country’s Next Outlaw With ‘Hollywood Gold’
Parker McCollum; Photo credit: Carlos Ruiz
Parker McCollum; Photo credit: Trenton Johnson
Despite a growing sense that mass-market appeal and the quest for crossover hits are officially driving the bus, there’s still evidence that country artists who are stubborn enough can make their own path — just ask “newcomer” Parker McCollum.
The 28-year-old native of Conroe, Texas, is now emerging as a new-school outlaw with a determined drive and a lot to prove, and the parallels to names like Jennings and Nelson are easy to see. Determined to set his own course and speak his own truth, even if it’s not flattering or flops in a focus group, Parker McCollum is fresh off his first No.1 hit with the self-questioning standout, “Pretty Heart” — but it’s hardly beginner’s luck. For almost a decade, he’s been building a massive audience independently, and even released two albums that earned support from Lonestar State royals like Lloyd Maines.
Parker released his first major label EP, Hollywood Gold, in October and the project marks and a step up to the next level of his journey. But he likely could have reached it earlier — if he had just compromised his integrity. After chatting with Sounds Like Nashville about the project, though, that was clearly never going to happen.
Despite a growing sense that mass-market appeal and the quest for crossover hits are officially driving the bus, there’s still evidence that country artists who are stubborn enough can make their own path — just ask “newcomer” Parker McCollum.
The 28-year-old native of Conroe, Texas, is now emerging as a new-school outlaw with a determined drive and a lot to prove, and the parallels to names like Jennings and Nelson are easy to see. Determined to set his own course and speak his own truth, even if it’s not flattering or flops in a focus group, Parker McCollum is fresh off his first No.1 hit with the self-questioning standout, “Pretty Heart” — but it’s hardly beginner’s luck. For almost a decade, he’s been building a massive audience independently, and even released two albums that earned support from Lonestar State royals like Lloyd Maines.
Parker McCollum; Photo credit: Trenton Johnson
Parker released his first major label EP, Hollywood Gold, in October and the project marks and a step up to the next level of his journey. But he likely could have reached it earlier — if he had just compromised his integrity. After chatting with Sounds Like Nashville about the project, though, that was clearly never going to happen.
“There was no Plan B, and it was all hustle and actively trying to do things the right way,” McCollum says of his long, methodical rise. “There were definitely days when I was like ‘Why didn’t I just cut those damn goofy songs? Who cares?’ But I know how much I love songwriting, and how much I love the records and songs that are important to me. Just trying not to stray from that mindset is the main goal.”
A six-track EP named after a horse his grandfather bought a lifetime ago — and the crazy life lessons that followed — Hollywood Gold features a truth-over-all-else flavor and a sound that follows suit. It mixes the gritty live-show energy of a Texas dancehall with a bittersweet, no-frills vocal, and by all accounts, that shouldn’t work in today’s beat-driven country. But maybe that’s why it does. Along with “Pretty Heart,” the set explores the passing of time and how the cowboy spirit lives on in a new generation, and Parker McCollum tells Sounds Like Nashville he’s still just warming up.
SLN: You spent a long time as an independent artist in Texas, and built a huge following on your own. How much of your life is different now that you’ve got the support of a major label, and everything that comes with it?
Parker McCollum: It’s pretty much the exact same. The crowds are a little bigger – well, the crowds are non-existent at the moment. My schedule is a little busier day to day and I think the pressure I put on myself is a little greater, just trying to seize opportunities and not be 35 and back to playing bars. But for the most part, I don’t think I’ve changed at all – whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, I’m not sure.
Was it always your goal to transition up to Nashville, and into a mainstream career? Where do you want to end up?
My goal was always to sign a major record deal and be on the big level, play on the biggest stages in country music. But to go mainstream is actually not the goal, even today. My whole mindset for the longest time has been, I think Chris Stapleton and Kacey Musgraves have done it really well — being extremely successful but without ever cutting a goofy song or a feel good song. It’s all really good songwriting. When I signed my record deal, I told [Universal Music Group Nashville’s] Mike Dungan and Cindy Mabe, I want to make Luke Bryan money and Chris Knight caliber songs.
Parker McCollum; Photo credit: Evolve Media
Parker McCollum; Photo credit: UMG
Your first album, The Limestone Kid, showed some really inventive songwriting and a unique voice. But what I remember most is that you seemed like a guy who would not be stopped, no matter what. How much of that attitude do you retain?
I don’t know if I’m even aware of having that attitude, it might just be part of my nature, but I do have a little bit of a chip on my shoulder. That’s not to say I’m bitter or anything, but I remember being 20 or 21 years old and talking to my dad like “If I’m really gonna do this, it’s gonna be a long, hard ride. It can’t be like ‘Oh, you didn’t make it in two years? Let’s do this instead.'”
The reason I ask is because I feel like that plays into the story of the EP’s name. Where did the name Hollywood Gold come from?
I had heard this story from my grandparents and my uncle my whole life. I was getting some heat from the label about finding a name for this project, so that was kind of on my mind, and I was visiting my grandma and she was telling the story again – about this horse named Hollywood Gold my granddad had bought back in the day. It was this big, badass racehorse, a championship winner that he had shipped over here [from Australia]. Long story short, it ends up getting stolen and for months and months he couldn’t find it. They’d go out on weeknights and drive around looking for it, and finally did find it, so it was a happy ending and it ended up producing some really good horses for him. But while my grandma was telling the story again, I was like “How in the world have I never clicked with ‘Hollywood Gold?’ How is that not a song?” I actually started writing a song while she was telling the story, but it was really simple — I was like “That’s just gotta be the name.”
What was it about the story that inspired you?
I think it was my grandma saying “You know, we really didn’t have the money to be doing things like that. But he just had gut feeling for horses, and had a really good eye for them.’ He really, really was talented at seeing something in a horse and harnessing whatever that horse had that was special. He could see it. I’ve always felt connected to my grandfather and that’s always been one of my favorite compliments — that I’m sort of like him a little bit. He was always a hustler, born in the Great Depression and not a very wealthy man, and he was the definition of the American Dream. So thinking about him being a young man, and taking a risk to buy that horse to get out there and make something happen in life. He didn’t go and ask anybody for anything, he went and took it and then worked hard to keep it. That’s where a lot of the mentality comes from that I have towards my music career.
Is your grandfather still with us?
No, he passed right in the middle of recording my last record, Probably Wrong.
I’m sorry to hear that.
No, when you get to have someone in your life for that long, you can’t be too greedy. You just have to be grateful you had them.
You recorded the EP with Jon Randall Stewart, who is basically a genius when it comes to making roots country work commercially. What kind of sound were you going for? It sounds organic and has some Texas flavor to me, but I wouldn’t call it a throwback.
I think the lack thereof is what has made this project special. Me and JR just clicked. The first time we ever hung out I think he saw that I really gave a shit, and wanted to come up to Nashville to get a record deal but also to write songs that I was proud of. There was never a sound we were going for, and he really is the saving grace, because a lot of producers in that town would have produced my music and probably based the sound in what’s successful on the radio today. … But JR just has a knack for hearing and feeling what an artist is trying to put out there, and I think he understood what I was trying to do.
You mentioned writing songs you care about, so tell me about “Pretty Heart” and the sentiment behind that. It’s your first No.1 chart hit, which is awesome, but you’re pretty hard on yourself in it. What was your life like when you were writing it?
Oh gosh, it was a pretty rowdy time to say the least. I think I was a little out of my head trying to write that last record, and this is a song that I didn’t write until after Probably Wrong was done, but it fits so well on there. It leads me to think that as much as I thought I had grown past who I was when I wrote Probably Wrong, I’m not sure I have yet anymore.
I was so busy and doing so much, I was flying to Nashville every week, and I wasn’t really taking care of myself on the road. I was trying to intentionally get messed up to write songs, you know? It was like, it worked before so why wouldn’t it work again? So the whole thing was really wearing on me, and as far as the songwriting goes [that lifestyle is] great, but as far as your health and personal life, not so great. It was perfect timing for this write with Randy [Montana], though, because I was really going through it. … It blows me away that the song is doing what it’s doing now, because I remember when we wrote it I was like, “That ain’t it.” I really didn’t think we hit the nail on the head, but when we got into the studio and started singing it, I started coming around to it.
Was writing that a turning point for you personally? Did you start taking better care of yourself?
Nooooo. [Laughs] Not right then.
Parker McCollum; Photo credit: UMG
This really cool, really reflective anthem “Young Man’s Blues” starts the EP off, and I love the theme of growing up and realizing that time changes things. Like how we never realize in the moment that we can’t go back later on. Where did that come from? Do you feel torn between chasing dreams and a normal life?
As far as that right there, there’s no question that business and career come first for me. That’s how I started and I will finish it, regardless of what it costs me. And that kind of plays into what “Young Man’s Blues” is about. Over the last year, I’ve found myself asking “How are you gonna feel when you’re an old man? Are you gonna wish you had done things right?” I think about my granddad and he died in a great place in his life – big family and just, the ultimate way to be when you’re an old man. With this career and any kind of platform, things can go wrong and you can get lost in the wrong things. They can go South quick, so “Young Man’s Blues” came out of that.
It was like “Will I ever grow up?” Because you want it to be worth it when you’re an old man, and get over the short term mindset of “I enjoy this now and I’m young.” I struggle with that a lot, I think, especially like “Dude, when are you going to grow up and change your mindset? It would be really great for your career and those around you.” So to write about it when you’re right in the middle of trying to figure it out, right in that head space, it’s weird to listen to it now and know it’s still very relevant in my life.
Big picture, what do you want people to take away from Hollywood Gold?
I don’t say these things out loud very well, I feel like a dork. But I really just want them to believe it. Whether they like it or they don’t is one thing, but I hope they at least can say “He means that. When he sings a song I believe him, and there’s nothing fake or fabricated or formulated about it.” That’s a win for me.
Parker McCollum; Photo credit: UMG
