Parker McCollum recently released his newest Self-Titled album, and the eponymous project features a duet with Cody Johnson. The two Texas singers teamed up for a cover of Danny O’Keefe’s “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues,” and McCollum opened up to Billboard about why he decided to tap Johnson for that particular track.
“I’ve always wanted to cut it. I’ve listened to it for 15 years, and I’ve always thought of Cody when I heard that song,” McCollum said. “I just always thought he was so, so crazy talented and such a good singer, and just so passionate about his business and how it goes about his life, and I just admire that so much. He comes in and just kills it.”
McCollum further praised Johnson on Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen on Apple Music, calling the “The Painter” singer “a lot better than I am” and “one of the best singers that I’ve ever heard.”
“We ain’t even playing the same game,” McCollum said. “But I’ve just always been such a fan, and it was selfish of me to have him on that song because I’ve always listened to that song and wanted to hear him sing it. I’ve always just thought, ‘Cody.’”
While he knew he wanted Johnson on the cover with him, it took some internal encouragement for McCollum to make the ask to his fellow artist. “I just always wanted to hear him sing that song, and so I mustered up the courage one day to text him and be like, ‘Hey, would you sing on this?’” He recalled. “And he shot right back and said, ‘Absolutely.’”
Though he succeeded in his task, McCollum shared that he started second-guessing himself a few months later. “I was like, ‘Man, I should not have done that. I’m probably a pain in his… And he probably complained to his management he’s got to sing on this dumb Parker song,’” he said. “And thank you, shout out Cody for doing it again. But I listened to it after he’d sang it, and I was just like, ‘Damn, I was so right.’”
Both McCollum and Johnson are natives of the Lone Star State; Johnson is from Sebastopol and McCollum from Conroe. While they’re now both major stars in Nashville, McCollum shared that the two first crossed paths years ago.
“The first time I had ever heard of Cody Johnson and [Johnson’s band] Rockin’ CJB, my older cousin Austin had gotten in a very, very bad car wreck when he was in college,” the “Burn It Down” singer recalled to Billboard. “He’s still alive, but later on that year we did a huge benefit for him. Cody Johnson played that benefit show. Somebody in town knew him from singing in a country band, and I remember being like, ‘Hell yeah. He’s really good.’ He could’ve only been around 20 years old then. A few years go by, he’s on Texas radio and selling out the bars. I eventually opened for him a couple of times when I started on the scene several years later. He’s always been really good to me.”
Read more about Parker McCollum’s new Self-Titled album.
