PARKER McCOLLUM

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Never Enough, Parker McCollum’s second major-label release, is a statement album. If its predecessor, Gold Chain Cowboy, announced Parker’s arrival in the country music mainstream, Never Enough (MCA Nashville) says that, damn right, he’s here to stay. Like Gold Chain Cowboy, it pairs Parker with producer Jon Randall (Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley), a fellow Texan who understands exactly what fuels Parker’s artistry: authenticity, vulnerability, and a little bit of defiance. Never Enough bristles with honesty and attitude and is shot through with equal parts rock guitar and country songwriting. “What I do best is write songs from a very real place and sing country music, but also be very ‘me’ and not try to sound like someone else,” Parker says. “We definitely did that on this record and every one of the 15 songs sounds different.” Compare album opener “Hurricane” and the confessional ballad “Have Your Heart Again” to hear his point. “Hurricane,” a song about a strong-willed girl who blows through your life and leaves it in tatters, is a driving rock anthem with a guitar riff that calls to mind the theme from Friends (“I’m sure some people will hate on that, but I don’t give a shit,” Parker laughs. “I thought it was cool”). “Have Your Heart Again,” meanwhile, is a simple vocal-and-piano arrangement with Parker hitting a stunning falsetto note. The songs are each irresistible and unique, rich in lyrical imagery, and unlike anything you’ll hear coming out of Nashville today. Credit that to Parker, as sturdy as a live oak, for knowing exactly who he is. “This town can eat you alive, the music business can eat you alive, with artists trying to remain relevant and have hit songs. That’s something I never cared about when I’m writing or making a record,” he says. “I’m never thinking about singles. I’m trying to just write songs that can potentially stand the test of time. That’s the sole purpose of writing songs for me.” Even Never Enough tracks that have since become gold-certified hits weren’t written with radio in mind. To Parker, “Handle on You” was just a drinking song with clever lyricism (“I tell myself that I should quit/but I don’t listen to drunks”) and a late-Eighties country sound as smooth as Tennessee whiskey or, perhaps, a Shiner Bock. “That song is a nod to some of the great records I grew up with,” says Parker, who counts George Strait, Willie Nelson, and cult hero Chris Knight as chief inspirations. “A lot of radio songs nowadays are kind of bubble-gummy. I don’t have any problem with pop-country, but I’d like to hear a little more classic country too. My team kept saying ‘Handle on You’ was a radio song and I said, ‘If y’all put that on the radio, then hell yeah.’” A mostly solitary songwriter prior to his entrée into Nashville, Parker has now written with some of country music’s finest. Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, and Liz Rose (a.k.a. The Love Junkies), David Lee Murphy, Brett James, and Ashley Gorley all contribute to Never Enough, along with Parker’s Texas peers Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen, and Ryan Beaver. “That’s been the biggest change since coming to Nashville: having access to some of the best songwriters in the world and sitting in a room with them to write,” Parker says. “The way these songwriters care and write, it’s from a place that I think I do as well. It’s made me look at songwriting differently.” The proof is in Parker’s chart history. He scored his first-ever No. 1 country hit with 2020’s “Pretty Heart,” his debut single. “To Be Loved by You” followed suit, also hitting No. 1. Now, he’s staring down a career-making single in “Burn It Down,” a moody, smoldering break-up song that equates a busted relationship to a house reduced to just ashes and smoke. Written with the Love Junkies, “Burn It Down” was born during a writing session at Parker’s home, where he spontaneously started singing the words “burn it down” over and over again. “Some days are like that, where the melody and the idea for the song is so good and everybody is on the same page,” he says. “If you’re talking about moving the needle in my career, ‘Burn It Down’ is probably going to be the song.” Parker lives for the type of spontaneous creation that happened that day. He’ll often challenge himself to write a song without changing a single word. He did that with “Too Tight This Time.” With a pretty acoustic guitar lick, a Dobro guest shot by Jerry Douglas, and a heavy dose of humility and introspection in Parker’s vocal performance, “Too Tight This Time” is Parker’s favorite track on Never Enough. “I said, ‘Let’s pour this thing out and whatever it is in 15 minutes, that’s what it’s going to be forever.’ I love to write songs like that and live with the end result. This one was easy to do because the melody was so good,” he says. “The line ‘There must be something broken inside this lonely man’ just hits so hard.” For all his quiet strength and rough-hewn masculinity, Parker isn’t afraid to bare his soul. But, ironically, one of the most personal songs on Never Enough is the only song he didn’t write: “Things I Never Told You,” penned by Monty Criswell, Lynn Hutton, and Taylor Phillips, parallels Parker’s relationship with his mother. “When I moved away from home/I didn’t realize how much I’d miss ya,” he sings. “A phone call don’t take the place/of your smilin’ face cooking in that kitchen.” “Those lines were all in there. People send me songs all the time and I never really hear any that I’m blown away by,” he says. Currently getting ready for a massive summer tour, including stadium dates with Morgan Wallen, Parker debuted “Things I Never Told You” for his mother during rehearsals. “We were in this massive amphitheater and my mom came the last day and I sang it for her. It was pretty cool.” To Parker, the gesture was a way to show he cared. Never Enough then is a testament to how much he cares about country music. “Sometimes I wish I didn’t care so much because everything would be easier. Hopefully one day people will look back at what I’ve done in country music and think it was honest and good for the genre,” Parker says. “This album may be called Never Enough, but if they see that what I did was real, that’ll be enough for me.” ###

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UMG NASHVILLE’S NEW YEAR’S LINERS (AUDIO)

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“Hey everybody, it’s Brad Paisley, wishing you a Happy New Year.”

“Hey! This is TJ, and I’m John, and we are Brothers Osborne. Happy New Year.”

“Hey y’all, this is Bryce Leatherwood, and I’m wishing y’all a Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year’s everybody. Bryce Leatherwood out.”

“Hi! I’m Carrie Underwood, wishing you a Happy New Year.”

“Hey y’all, this is Dalton Dover, wishing you a Happy New Year.”

“Hey y’all, this is Dalton Dover. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Happy New Year!”

“Hey y’all! What’s up? This is Darius Rucker, wishing you a Happy New Year!

“Hey, it’s Dierks Bentley. Happy New Year!”

“Hi, I’m Dierks Bentley, wishing you and yours a Happy New Year.”

“5-4-3-2-1…Happy New Year, everybody. I’m Eric Church.’”

“Hey! It’s Eric Church, hoping you have a Happy New Year.”

“Hi! I’m Jon Pardi, wishing you a Happy New Year!”

“Hey! I’m Jordan Davis, wishing you a Happy New Year!”

“Hey y’all, this is Josh Ross, wishing you a Happy New Year.”

“Hey y’all, this is Josh Ross. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year.”

“Hey! I’m Josh Turner. Happy New Year!”

“Hey! It’s Kacey Musgraves, hoping you have a safe and Happy New Year!”

“Hey! It’s Kassi Ashton. I’d love to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year.”

“Hey everyone! This is Keith Urban. Have a safe and happy New Year.”

“Hey! We’re Little Big Town. Happy New Year!”

“Hey! This is Luke Bryan, hoping you have a Happy New Year.”

“Hey y’all, it’s Luke Bryan. Hope you get to ring in the New Year with the ones you love.”

“Hi! We’re Maddie & Tae, wishing you a Happy New Year.”

“Hey! This is Mickey Guyton, wishing you a Happy New Year.”

“Hey everybody! I’m Parker McCollum, wishing you a Happy New Year.”

“Hey y’all, this is Priscilla Block, wishing you a very Happy New Year!”

“Hey everybody, this is Reba McEntire. Happy New Year!”

“Hey everybody! I’m Sam Hunt. Happy New Year!”

“Hi! This is Shania Twain. Happy New Year!”

“Hey everybody, we’re The War And Treaty. Hope you have a wonderful New Year.”

“The War And Treaty here. Happy New Year.”

“Hey what’s goin’ on it’s Tucker Wetmore. Happy New Year everybody!

UMG NASHVILLE’S NEW YEAR’S EVE CONTENT (AUDIO)

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Brothers Osborne / Darius Rucker / Dierks Bentley / Eric Church / Josh Ross / Kacey Musgraves / Luke Bryan / Reba McEntire / Travis Denning / Tyler Hubbard

What are some of your favorite stars doing to welcome in the New Year? A few of them are working to help fans celebrate. Several artists have taken the time off around the holidays and will hit it hard when they return to the road in 2025. Some artists have resolutions, some artists look ahead to 2025 and some are very helpful with their own hangover cures for those who have a little too much fun on New Year’s Eve.

JOHN: “I think it’s kind of funny how we spend literally the last moment and the very first moment of every year being extremely intoxicated, extremely, because you don’t want to wait until like 12:30 to get your buzz on. You’ve got to do it before midnight, and then once midnight happens, you’re like, ‘Omigod! Now it’s time to celebrate even more.’ Debauchery is the literally bookending your entire year.” TJ: “I love how everyone starts the year off with diets and then we end the year with like excessive amounts of food. And then you get to the end of the year, you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m going to start a diet on the 1st, so I’m going to eat everything that’s in front of me.’ I love it.” JOHN: “And come February 1st, ‘what diet?’” [laughs] TJ: “What diet? I’ll start it next month.” [laughs]

John Osborne:
“Usually drinking more. I mean, a little hair of the dog never hurt anybody. Plus, it’s the first of the year.”

“These days New Year’s Eve unless I get a big gig, I don’t take it. And we don’t do anything for New Year’s Eve, we stay home. New Year’s Eve is for amateurs, we stay home, New Year’s Eve.”

Dierks Bentley (New Year’s) OC: …in stride. 1:11
“New Year’s is rough. New Year’s hurts no matter what’s going on. I’ve played a lot of New Year’s shows, you know, but I’ve honestly found that it’s not my favorite night to throw down. Look, for a living, that’s what I do. Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, I host a big party; not only on stage, but I’ve got friends backstage. It starts before the concert sometimes, [and] it goes long after the concert, so a lot of times on New Year’s, I’m looking for a really mellow hang – a good party, good friends, pretty chill. Some of my best New Year’s – it doesn’t make for great radio – but some of my best New Years have been just like actually hearing fireworks go off while I’m in bed, [laughs] and know I’m gonna wake up the next morning for the first day of the New Year feeling great, feeling recharged and I’m ready to go ad go into the New Year feeling good as opposed to going into it with a giant Jagerbomb hangover, which I’ve done many, many times. So, the goal this year is to go into it feeling pretty good and the kids help with that, because you really just don’t want to be hungover with children. It’s not a good feeling. You would probably admit to any crime to get them, just feel better, and get them leave you alone. So, [I’m] gonna try to hit New Year’s this year in stride.”

Dierks (NYE) OC: …for that. :10
“I think January first is universally accepted as a dog. So I mean, a little hair of the dog, I guess. But just…water and stay on the couch, I guess. There’s no real sure-fire cure for that.”

Eric Church (hangover cure) OC: …every time. :17
“The best hangover cure – I’ve got two. One is 5-hour Energy [bottles], because of all the B-vitamins that are in it. You can start pounding those, and it’s either gonna work, or it’s gonna keep you up and prolong your misery. But the other one I have is just take two Advil and a beer in the morning. Hair of the dog, man – that works every time.”

“My hangover cure is Bloody Mary’s. But be careful, because once you have a couple, don’t go to beer, because if you go to beer, you’re gonna start drinking again. And you end up a morning drunk. Or if you wanna go the non-alcoholic route, there’s nothing you can do for hangovers. You just gotta deal with it.”

“You know, obviously just the energy around it being a new year and new goals and it’s my refresh for the year, and, but it’ll I get to kind of start my refresh right at the very first moment of time, so I’m really looking forward to that.

“Best hangover cure—I think it’s depending on what I have to do that day or the next day. But yeah, there’s definitely two. There’s my old approach, which was the football approach when I played college football, was we used to have Sunday morning rundown and no matter how much fun you had on Saturday night, you had to be at the field at 8 or 9am and we used to have to jog around the track. Running or doing some type activity is one of the best cures. As I’ve gotten lazier, I would maybe say, sometimes just having water, having liquid IV or sometimes my grandma’s old trick of the hair of the dog is a real thing and kind of just help level you out for the day.”

“Coconut water is a major help with hangovers and also, a lot of times we go and eat Vietnamese pho. It’s a soup, and it’s got this awesome broth. You can get different things in it or whatever, but for some reason, it’s just like…it’s almost like a chicken noodle soup kind of an idea, you know, but it’s good. That’s good for hangovers too. That, sleep, Tylenol, coconut water and just water, in general. And when you’re drinking, have your alcohol, drink a little bit of water, drink some more alcohol, drink some water. Yup!”

My favorite day drink is typically a margarita with a nice reposado tequila. If I day drink tequila, I will have a day nap, always. You have a day nap anyway. I do. You do. That’s how I stay so young. That’s right. It’s good for my complexion.

I don’t, I’m sorry. What is your day drink? I grew up napping. He’s a napper. Kimberly’s day drink would be a… Cuban. Or a pineapple mojito. Oh, that sounds nice. Sure. Can you make me one? My day drink would probably be a glass of… White wine. Yeah. And then I like to go shopping…not a good combination. It is for her. Your credit limit is higher if you’re drinking while you shop. It’s like gambling and shopping. I mean, gambling and drinking. I like beach drinks, like bitter, legitimately beachy drinks. Rum runner. Yes, rum drinks are good. I like my mai tais. It kind of sounds like you take a nap and you drink.

You know, beachy drinks. Fru-Fru drinks. What is that? Nobody said Fru-Fru. You said Fru-Fru. Yeah, OK. I was just thinking. OK, I like Fru-Fru drinks. He does. During the day. Mai tai, that’s a good day drink for me. That’s good.

“My best New Year’s Eve is definitely when my wife and I started back dating. We started back dating right before Christmas and we went on a trip down to Florida and met some friends. And her birthday is New Year’s Eve. We celebrated it that night and it was just a great night.”

Tyler Hubbard (New Year’s memory) OC: …comes to mind. :24
“Well, this is probably a classic answer, but we did play New Year’s in New York and watched the ball drop and it was a big, special moment, one of those kind of check it off the bucket list type of moments, and we did that. And it is incredible. The energy’s amazing, and it’s super cold, but we had a great time. When I think of epic New Year’s, that’s definitely, it’s probably the first memory that comes to mind.”

Tucker Wetmore’s New Year Resolution:
“Yeah, I haven’t really thought of any New Year’s resolutions for 2025. Um, probably cause my whole next year is already planned out, in the books and stamped and all I gotta do is show up. And yeah, I guess being happy would be my, my resolution for sure.”

UMG NASHVILLE’S “A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS” RADIO SPECIAL

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With hosts such as Reba McEntire, Little Big Town, Jordan Davis, and Carrie Underwood, you will have 8 hours of a star-studded holiday playlist with A Country Christmas. Click HERE to download.

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We have compiled an array of content — a variety of liners and soundbites – from PARKER McCOLLUM to equip you with everything you might need to put together your own album radio special; roll-out tracks surrounding the release of his new NEVER ENOUGH record to use in news feeds, specials and much more. Check out all of details below (including audio liners and soundbites, as well as transcriptions) to create your own content surrounding PARKER’s new album release.

Never Enough releases on the heels of Parker’s third consecutive #1 smash, “Handle On You.” The album bristles with honesty and attitude, shot through with equal parts rock guitar and country songwriting. Produced by Jon Randall, Never Enough pairs the Texas native with some of the most esteemed songwriters from Texas to Music Row on 15 tracks that underscore authenticity, vulnerability, and a little bit of defiance.

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