Parker McCollum takes us behind the scenes of the last stop of his ‘Burn It Down’ Tour in Anaheim, CA. He shows off his tour bus, explains the inspo behind the tour, his must-haves on the road and more!
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MusicTranscript
00:00Gotta have the chains, the rollie, and the new Fresh Western hat.
00:11What's up guys? Parker McCollum here. This is a tour stop with Billboard. Y'all come check out my bus.
00:24We just got off stage. We were doing soundcheck.
00:30We are in Anaheim, California for the last weekend of the Burn It Down Tour.
00:43Headed to the bus now. Gonna show y'all how I live, how I travel on the road.
00:52We cut it on my last record. It ended up being the single and I just love the song. I love performing the song.
00:57The fans really connected with the song super, super quick.
01:01We were gonna name the tour. I was like, we might as well write Burn It Down.
01:05This is the last weekend. Show number 8,465. We are limping into this weekend.
01:11We are out of wardrobe. We are not out of energy and we are not out of fun.
01:19This is our friends and family room. This kind of travels with us everywhere we go.
01:23I guess you would call them flags. Maybe they are tablecloths. I don't know.
01:28But they are really cool pictures from the Burn It Down Tour in the past years, past shows we've played.
01:32That's the first time we sold out Red Rocks. It's kind of our vibe room as they call it.
01:36Friends and family room. We travel with a Golden Tee that we take everywhere with us.
01:40We have a Pac-Man that we take everywhere with us.
01:42This road case right here is a bar. My dad and I built this, hand built this together last summer.
01:49I'm just kidding. That's a lie. We didn't build it. We bought it from some guy.
01:54This is Brent. This is our production manager. This is Cam. This is our tour manager.
01:59Our crew, we have a super good relationship. A lot of my guys have been with me, especially in the band.
02:03And a lot of our crew guys have been with me for a long time.
02:09I'm Brady Beal. I'm a guitar player and I've been playing for Parker for about 8 years now.
02:15Oh, the real Parker? He's a prankster.
02:17Who's the person next to you on the left?
02:20I don't really know. He's been following me around all day.
02:23This is the elevator we travel with everywhere. It goes everywhere with us.
02:26This is the burn it down elevator.
02:28This is Fred right here. I cooked all of this. I wake up 5am every day on the road.
02:33He and I met at a songwriting competition in Spicewood, Texas in 2012.
02:39We both lost, but we became buddies and he started taking off and asked me to join in.
02:46And it's been quite a ride ever since.
02:48You want to go to the bus?
02:50Yeah!
02:52Go check out my bus!
02:58So, this is my bus. I used to ride with the band. I did for a long time.
03:03Now I have my own bus, which is a massive blessing. I don't know if I could ever go back.
03:07I love those boys, but I'm very clean. I like my stuff very organized.
03:11And I love candles. You've got to have candles lit at all times on the bus.
03:14But I actually have a candle collection at home that would probably rival any housewife in America.
03:21Very seasonal. I like warm scents. I like comforting scents.
03:25And as soon as that first cold front hits, it's candle burning time.
03:29If this singing thing doesn't work out, I might become a candle salesman.
03:33But this is my home on the road. I've got everything I like to eat. My whole wardrobe.
03:38Some of the must-have items in the fridge on my bus. I feel like it's MTV Cribs right now.
03:42I've always wanted to do this. Numero Uno milk and cereal is huge on the road for me.
03:48Very easy. If catering's not up yet. If you get up at a weird hour or whatever and you're hungry.
03:53I have a bed in the back, which you can see in a second, but I actually sleep in this bunk here.
03:58You have a light, and you have your own personal air vents.
04:01When the bus is running, you have ice-cold AC ripping on your face, which is really nice.
04:07I mean, I sleep in here great.
04:13What kind of man do you need?
04:16You know what? I certainly think she influenced... Halle Rae was definitely that for me.
04:21The second I met her, I kind of started cleaning it up a little bit.
04:25I really did feel that way. I was like, whatever I've got to do to have you, I'm down and I'll do it.
04:32So that song, What Kind of Man, I didn't sit down to write that song about her, but it certainly is inspired by her.
04:38Forget the man I am, what kind of man do you need?
04:43My style on tour is extremely boring. I don't really have any style.
04:47So every night, synced jeans, double extra heavy starch.
04:53But if they don't sound like that when you peel them apart, they ain't starched right.
04:58Creases down the middle. Got to have the starchies every night.
05:02Lately I've been after the Fresh Western hats. Nobody knows what that is. It's a brand new company.
05:09I wouldn't say I'm an accessories guy. I'd say I have a few accessories that I wear all of the time.
05:15But I am a tennis shoes guy. I always keep a guitar back here.
05:18If I'm ever feeling creative or inspired or just want to pick and practice and stuff, I've got one on the bus to use.
05:24The way I grew up is I had one pair of boots. I would wear the same pair of boots to school, to church, to a nice event, to the ranch, to hunt, whatever.
05:31So now it's a little different. I have boots just for stage.
05:34I have a signature collection that I designed with Luke Casey Boots. Everyone has my signature on them.
05:41When I was growing up, I grew up in a town called Conroe, Texas.
05:44Whether I was working on my granddad's ranch or whether I was playing ball or whatever, I was just raised.
05:50It was yes ma'am, no ma'am, yes sir, no sir. Take your hat off when you meet a lady.
05:53You say the blessing before you eat a meal. Very firm handshake. Look them in the eye.
05:58All of that stuff was just ingrained in my brain so heavy.
06:00As a kid, my mom, my dad, my grandparents, whoever, would always say good manners will open more doors than anything else.
06:07I kind of stick out like a sore thumb. When I come here, you hold the door open for people and you say yes ma'am.
06:12They kind of look at you like, where the heck are you from?
06:14If there's anything like me, all I can give them is great manners.
06:16This is Nick Rhodes. This is my day-to-day assistant.
06:18I think when he sees my name pop up, he knows I need something.
06:23He's like, you know what, this can wait.
06:26I'm Clevern. I'm the tour videographer. I'm known as Viper around here.
06:35We did. Our maid laid a few bars down in the video.
06:39Billboard, 20 minutes till meet and greet. I gotta go get dressed. I'll see y'all in a little bit. Peace.
06:44This is my 32nd Parker McCollum show. It's hard for me to pick a favorite Parker McCollum song.
06:49I always joke it's like picking a favorite child.
06:51I've made so many friends.
06:53We're going to see Parker.
06:55Parker! Parker! Parker!
06:57When I play Hell of a Year, that's kind of my goosebumps moment.
07:05Billboard, thanks for following me around all day.
07:08If you want to come see me in 2025, make sure you hit the shoppable link and come see us next year. Peace.
07:16Damn good to be on the West Coast.
07:17My name's Parker McCollum. I'm from Conroe, Texas. Thank y'all so much for showing up tonight.