The Sit Down with Parmalee
With over 1.6 billion streams, six number one country hits including their most recent and longest-running chart topper “Cowgirl” amongst a growing list of platinum singles, Parmalee have cemented their place as a hit-making powerhouse that British fans have eagerly been awaiting to make a first trip across the pond. The North Carolina-bred quartet of brothers Matt and Scott Thomas along with their cousin Barry Knox and their lifelong friend Josh McSwain are finally set for their UK debut with a headline performance at Country Calling in Chelmsford, which we got to look ahead to with the guys when we recently caught up with them over Zoom ahead of the trip.
Hey guys, thanks for hanging this morning, looking forward to seeing you guys in a couple of days’ time when it’s not as hot as it is today.
“We've been in that, we were outside of Vegas and it was a hundred and seventeen, so we've been getting some warm weather too.”
This weekend should be more pleasant, it's looking like it’s gonna sit around the mid-seventies in your speak which is pretty perfect and a nice change because it’s been really hot for us here too. We're really excited for the weekend and I'm sure you guys are too but I guess the killer question is, looking back through all you've achieved and “Carolina” was a number one, thirteen years ago, so why has it taken Parmalee so long to come over here and play one of these huge shows for us here in the UK?
“It’s ridiculous to be honest with you. I will say when we first signed with our label, they were independent, they weren't international so our music wasn't serviced over there. Then obviously when “Just The Way” kind of took off, that was right during COVID, so it's just taken a little bit of time, but we're so happy to be coming over and we're going to continue to do it, I promise you that!”
Hey guys, thanks for hanging this morning, looking forward to seeing you guys in a couple of days’ time when it’s not as hot as it is today.
“We've been in that, we were outside of Vegas and it was a hundred and seventeen, so we've been getting some warm weather too.”
This weekend should be more pleasant, it's looking like it’s gonna sit around the mid-seventies in your speak which is pretty perfect and a nice change because it’s been really hot for us here too. We're really excited for the weekend and I'm sure you guys are too but I guess the killer question is, looking back through all you've achieved and “Carolina” was a number one, thirteen years ago, so why has it taken Parmalee so long to come over here and play one of these huge shows for us here in the UK?
“It’s ridiculous to be honest with you. I will say when we first signed with our label, they were independent, they weren't international so our music wasn't serviced over there. Then obviously when “Just The Way” kind of took off, that was right during COVID, so it's just taken a little bit of time, but we're so happy to be coming over and we're going to continue to do it, I promise you that!”
Have any of you actually made it over here before as tourists?
“We had a layover there one time and spent an afternoon doing the eight hour quick tour so we went out and saw Big Ben, Parliament, had fish and chips so we did everything we could in a small time, then got on a plane and left, but we're excited to come for a couple days to be able to hang out.”
Is it pretty much an in and out trip this weekend or have you got a little bit of time to be tourists, get some Indian food and explore while you're here?
“Yes, we do. We've got basically two days, one day will be there unslept, but the next day we'll have all day to kind of do our thing which will be fun.”
Country music has grown so much here where you guys have probably heard from people at your label and everybody else that's been over here about the crowds so what excites you most about getting to play to the UK audience for the first time?
“We've heard that the listeners are a little bit different than the listeners in America, they're more like listeners and get into the music that way. Also, we've just been kind of working with our set list to figure out which songs are working over there versus the ones that are working over here, so we're adding a couple things to it that we don't normally have in our set back home, but we're just excited. It's hard to explain, we've been talking about this for so long and now we're finally getting to do a big show like this. It's just amazing and it's all about getting in front of new fans.”
It was interesting what you said about the set, that was one question I was going to ask because when you're touring a lot around the States, you might have a couple of audibles but generally you're running the same setlist each night. So, looking ahead to this UK show, it sounds like you're changing things up a little bit.
“Yeah, I mean we obviously have our hits and we know they're always top of list, then we'll search what songs are streaming the most in the areas we go and try to add them to the set list, things like that. Also new stuff too, if we have some new stuff that we haven't played, I mean, all these songs will be performed for the first time in UK, which is kind of cool to think about, even though some of them are fourteen years old, it doesn't matter. This is gonna be fun, we're actually going to be doing everything we do here plus some, so we're giving you a little extra this time.”
Does your mindset change from playing your own shows kind compared to a festival? Generally, at a festival, you have a shorter set, you're not always going to be on last and I guess there's a lot of people that have heard “Cowgirl” and “Just The Way” but you’re still quite new to a lot of people.
“Well, you're trying to make the listeners fans to be honest with you, because a lot of people might not know that we sing some of the songs that they're familiar with, so it's about getting to make that connection with the people who love the songs and see who we are. We do an introductory thing during our set where we try to get people to know more and more about us throughout the set as it goes on. It's kind of like playing them for the first time, we know they’re big hits back home and everybody knows them, but you’ve got to play them your best because you don't know if the people who heard these songs.”
“We had a layover there one time and spent an afternoon doing the eight hour quick tour so we went out and saw Big Ben, Parliament, had fish and chips so we did everything we could in a small time, then got on a plane and left, but we're excited to come for a couple days to be able to hang out.”
Is it pretty much an in and out trip this weekend or have you got a little bit of time to be tourists, get some Indian food and explore while you're here?
“Yes, we do. We've got basically two days, one day will be there unslept, but the next day we'll have all day to kind of do our thing which will be fun.”
Country music has grown so much here where you guys have probably heard from people at your label and everybody else that's been over here about the crowds so what excites you most about getting to play to the UK audience for the first time?
“We've heard that the listeners are a little bit different than the listeners in America, they're more like listeners and get into the music that way. Also, we've just been kind of working with our set list to figure out which songs are working over there versus the ones that are working over here, so we're adding a couple things to it that we don't normally have in our set back home, but we're just excited. It's hard to explain, we've been talking about this for so long and now we're finally getting to do a big show like this. It's just amazing and it's all about getting in front of new fans.”
It was interesting what you said about the set, that was one question I was going to ask because when you're touring a lot around the States, you might have a couple of audibles but generally you're running the same setlist each night. So, looking ahead to this UK show, it sounds like you're changing things up a little bit.
“Yeah, I mean we obviously have our hits and we know they're always top of list, then we'll search what songs are streaming the most in the areas we go and try to add them to the set list, things like that. Also new stuff too, if we have some new stuff that we haven't played, I mean, all these songs will be performed for the first time in UK, which is kind of cool to think about, even though some of them are fourteen years old, it doesn't matter. This is gonna be fun, we're actually going to be doing everything we do here plus some, so we're giving you a little extra this time.”
Does your mindset change from playing your own shows kind compared to a festival? Generally, at a festival, you have a shorter set, you're not always going to be on last and I guess there's a lot of people that have heard “Cowgirl” and “Just The Way” but you’re still quite new to a lot of people.
“Well, you're trying to make the listeners fans to be honest with you, because a lot of people might not know that we sing some of the songs that they're familiar with, so it's about getting to make that connection with the people who love the songs and see who we are. We do an introductory thing during our set where we try to get people to know more and more about us throughout the set as it goes on. It's kind of like playing them for the first time, we know they’re big hits back home and everybody knows them, but you’ve got to play them your best because you don't know if the people who heard these songs.”
Let’s talk about the one that people definitely will know. With a song like “Cowgirl” which has gone on to do great things and been your biggest number one to date, do you just know straight up when you cut it that it’s like yeah, this is going to be an absolute smash and a sure fire hit?
“No, I can tell you that, man, because it is the ongoing battle of songs. You have a feeling about songs that it feels right but I never say a song's a hit until it's a hit. That is a hard thing because you feel in your soul or when you feel it in your gut that the song is just right connected and if people don't get to hear it, then it does not get a shot and that's one of the hardest things out here when you just trying to cut through the stuff in here. With “Cowgirl” we knew when we heard it the first time and I heard the hook, I was like, this is really catchy but then you also battle with yourself because what we like as a band is not necessarily what a lot of listeners would like. You trust your gut sometimes, but you might second guess it too.”
You put out “I Need Somebody” just over a week ago so, I guess the UK crowd are going to be some of the first people to hear that live since it dropped. I get a real OneRepublic type vibe from that sonically and I think it’s really cool but looking ahead to more new music to come, is that a good starting point for what to expect for the next chapter from Parmalee?
“We're actually going to be dropping “Waterfall” and some songs throughout the year. We have three more songs coming, which we tease a lot of them on our socials. You know, that sonically is just that we were really searching for something like that, sonically and tempo wise when we wrote that song and wanted to add it to the set to just give us some energy and also give it a little breeziness which was kind of intentional on that. The other songs coming out, they're all our thing, but they're all a little bit different, there's not going to be like four in a row that are the same kind of thing. We've never been able to do that to a fault sometimes, but we like to mix it up, so we're excited for everybody to hear these next songs. With “I Need Somebody” we’ve just played it just a couple times, maybe twice and we’re gonna play it today too so you’ll be amongst the first.”
The other track that you've been on quite recently and has a real summer vibe is the LOCASH collab. That's an interesting one because when you look at the credits for that, those guys went in on the write were they, Matt? It’s one you wrote with your buddies, found it’s way to them and you guys came back in on it so it's kind of a weird cycle of how it came around to bring out this summer banger.
“It's awesome, man, because those things happen for a reason. I always say that, like it happens in time, in God's time. Me and my buddies were writing about three years ago and that was back when the interpolations were kind of the thing in Nashville. People were doing interpolations, catalogues were going around where they were asking people to interpolate songs, so I was like, you know what? One of my favourite songs is the Piña Colada song, like nobody's ever done that song correct, so we went in like that and we said, we got to make it country because it's about country. Anyway, we wrote the song, it was so much fun and we just kind of had it in our batch, but we couldn't find the right artist to feature with us because the verse is a real country, real low and that's not my wheelhouse, but we knew if we could find the right artist, we could sing the courses. Three years went by where nobody wanted to do it, then we just did a show with those guys randomly where Scott had a light bulb hit him and said hey man, we’ve got the song for y'all. They heard the first verse, first part of the chorus and they said, we're in, we wanna do it. So, we went down to Key West about a week later after we recorded the vocals, took the cameras down to just hang out, drink piña coladas and just have fun on the streets. That's the video!”
“No, I can tell you that, man, because it is the ongoing battle of songs. You have a feeling about songs that it feels right but I never say a song's a hit until it's a hit. That is a hard thing because you feel in your soul or when you feel it in your gut that the song is just right connected and if people don't get to hear it, then it does not get a shot and that's one of the hardest things out here when you just trying to cut through the stuff in here. With “Cowgirl” we knew when we heard it the first time and I heard the hook, I was like, this is really catchy but then you also battle with yourself because what we like as a band is not necessarily what a lot of listeners would like. You trust your gut sometimes, but you might second guess it too.”
You put out “I Need Somebody” just over a week ago so, I guess the UK crowd are going to be some of the first people to hear that live since it dropped. I get a real OneRepublic type vibe from that sonically and I think it’s really cool but looking ahead to more new music to come, is that a good starting point for what to expect for the next chapter from Parmalee?
“We're actually going to be dropping “Waterfall” and some songs throughout the year. We have three more songs coming, which we tease a lot of them on our socials. You know, that sonically is just that we were really searching for something like that, sonically and tempo wise when we wrote that song and wanted to add it to the set to just give us some energy and also give it a little breeziness which was kind of intentional on that. The other songs coming out, they're all our thing, but they're all a little bit different, there's not going to be like four in a row that are the same kind of thing. We've never been able to do that to a fault sometimes, but we like to mix it up, so we're excited for everybody to hear these next songs. With “I Need Somebody” we’ve just played it just a couple times, maybe twice and we’re gonna play it today too so you’ll be amongst the first.”
The other track that you've been on quite recently and has a real summer vibe is the LOCASH collab. That's an interesting one because when you look at the credits for that, those guys went in on the write were they, Matt? It’s one you wrote with your buddies, found it’s way to them and you guys came back in on it so it's kind of a weird cycle of how it came around to bring out this summer banger.
“It's awesome, man, because those things happen for a reason. I always say that, like it happens in time, in God's time. Me and my buddies were writing about three years ago and that was back when the interpolations were kind of the thing in Nashville. People were doing interpolations, catalogues were going around where they were asking people to interpolate songs, so I was like, you know what? One of my favourite songs is the Piña Colada song, like nobody's ever done that song correct, so we went in like that and we said, we got to make it country because it's about country. Anyway, we wrote the song, it was so much fun and we just kind of had it in our batch, but we couldn't find the right artist to feature with us because the verse is a real country, real low and that's not my wheelhouse, but we knew if we could find the right artist, we could sing the courses. Three years went by where nobody wanted to do it, then we just did a show with those guys randomly where Scott had a light bulb hit him and said hey man, we’ve got the song for y'all. They heard the first verse, first part of the chorus and they said, we're in, we wanna do it. So, we went down to Key West about a week later after we recorded the vocals, took the cameras down to just hang out, drink piña coladas and just have fun on the streets. That's the video!”
Happy days, is that something that we might hear on Saturday? Does it find its way into your own shows as well?
“Yeah, we might have to do it for you.”
Excellent, I know you've got a bunch of other people to talk to so I appreciate you all taking the time to hang and we’ll see you on Saturday.
The new single “I Need Somebody” from Parmalee is out now and available HERE. You can find details of all of their forthcoming US dates on their WEBSITE and you can keep up to date with all that the guys are up to by following along socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
Country Calling will take place at Kings Farm in Chelmsford over the weekend of August 14th to 16th and you can find more details, along with ticket information on their WEBSITE whilst you can keep up to date with all of the latest news on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK or FACEBOOK.
“Yeah, we might have to do it for you.”
Excellent, I know you've got a bunch of other people to talk to so I appreciate you all taking the time to hang and we’ll see you on Saturday.
The new single “I Need Somebody” from Parmalee is out now and available HERE. You can find details of all of their forthcoming US dates on their WEBSITE and you can keep up to date with all that the guys are up to by following along socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
Country Calling will take place at Kings Farm in Chelmsford over the weekend of August 14th to 16th and you can find more details, along with ticket information on their WEBSITE whilst you can keep up to date with all of the latest news on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK or FACEBOOK.