We sat down and talked with Parker McCollum about everything from being a new father to hunting! As it turns out, his son who is only a few months old isn't a ton of help with hunting... yet!
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00:00Are we live right now?
00:05We're recording.
00:06Are they recording?
00:07I don't know.
00:08We all have the mics.
00:09We are ready.
00:10Okay, and go.
00:11It already happened.
00:12Okay.
00:13There we go.
00:14Y'all missed the interview.
00:15And it's over.
00:16Did you get anything yet this year?
00:17I did not.
00:18I've only set two times.
00:19It's kind of funny.
00:20I played a deal in San Antonio on Saturday night, and then our ranch is about an hour
00:23and a half from there.
00:24So I took my three-month-old son to the ranch for the first time, which he's good for nothing
00:29out there, but, I mean, just can't do a dang thing.
00:34But my dad and stepmom, thank you, and my wife went with me, and we had a couple nights
00:38out there.
00:39And I set Sunday night and Monday morning, and the deer that I've been looking at on
00:45camera for two months, within 10 minutes of sitting in the stand the first day, damn near
00:50had his horn in the window.
00:51What?
00:52Yeah, it was kind of crazy.
00:53That never happens.
00:54That never happens.
00:55I know.
00:56I didn't even shoot.
00:57I was like, it's too early.
00:58I don't even want to end it yet.
00:59That's not exactly what will happen, right?
01:00Yes, ma'am.
01:01You're like, it's...
01:02Oh, that never happens.
01:03Wait all year and then 10 minutes into the first sit, he's sitting there looking at you.
01:05But how funny of a problem to have.
01:07That's a good problem to have.
01:08But it was cool to see him up close, see him on the hoof, and kind of get a better picture
01:10of him and really kind of age him better.
01:12And he is like...
01:13He's an old deer.
01:15He's probably...
01:16He's five at least, probably six years old, so...
01:18Okay.
01:19It's time.
01:20When did you first start hunting as a kid?
01:21Oh, well, when I was itty-bitty.
01:23I remember my dad wouldn't really let me go until I was probably six or seven.
01:29Probably because you couldn't be quiet.
01:31Now that I just took major to the ranch, I'm like, oh yeah, he's not going for a while.
01:36But I remember being little bitty and just bawling, crying, screaming when they would
01:41leave to go to the ranch or go to the lease or bird hunt or whatever because I couldn't
01:44go.
01:45I wasn't old enough.
01:46You're like, heart's broken.
01:47You're like, but why won't you take me?
01:48It was shattered.
01:49It was.
01:50And then that first time, do you remember that first time being with him?
01:53First bird hunt, I was probably...
01:54Because we did a long time, a bunch of family friends of ours back home would do a father-son
01:58bird hunt annual deal during dove season.
02:01And I think that was probably one of the first ones I got to go on.
02:03I was probably seven.
02:07Which I had...
02:08I think I was shooting a BB gun and my dad would make me go get the birds, make me think
02:11I shot them.
02:12So...
02:13I brought my son out in the deer blind last week.
02:16He's five.
02:17And we weren't actually hunting.
02:18We just went to go sit.
02:19I'm sure that was eventful.
02:21I was like, I don't know if he's ready to see the actual hunt, see all that yet.
02:27I was like, five might be a little bit young.
02:28I mean, you think about thousands of years ago, as soon as they could walk, they were
02:32playing them.
02:33That is true.
02:34That is true.
02:35There's a survival.
02:36We're all worried about now.
02:37We're like, oh, am I going to scar him for life?
02:38No, it's good for him.
02:39This is good.
02:40This is a good thing.
02:41He got ahold of deer call though.
02:42He was being quiet for about 10 minutes, maybe.
02:43I feel like this is your fault, by the way.
02:47A little buck was standing in front of us and he grabbed the deer call, he started blowing
02:52on that thing.
02:53Good for him.
02:54It was a little coarse though, but it sounds like flatulence.
02:57So he started cracking up and he could not contain himself and then neither could I.
03:02So we're both in the stand laughing and of course the deer ran away, but it was a really
03:06cool experience to be like, just to sit out there with my son and hang out.
03:09That's a big deal, man.
03:10That is absolutely a big deal.
03:11But that's what it's all about, is making memories, right?
03:14I don't know.
03:15I don't go hunting.
03:16I'm not making any memories.
03:17I mean, it's like they always say, you don't go fishing to catch a fish.
03:20It's all about the people you're with and the memories.
03:23Yes, ma'am.
03:25We talked about the song Santa Fe as well with Miranda Lambert.
03:30This is some pretty exciting news.
03:32Can you tell us how all that came about?
03:33I was actually in the studio cutting this record before I completely scrapped it and
03:39switched producers and went and did a whole nother deal.
03:42But I was in singing some vocals on it and then some stuff we'd cut earlier in the year
03:45and she had texted me and said, hey, if you want to sing this song with me, go ahead and
03:52take a listen to it.
03:54If you don't want to do it, all good.
03:55I mean, it could have been Happy Birthday.
03:57I was going to sing it with her.
03:58I'm such a fan of hers.
04:00And I mean, I'm not lying on God.
04:03Ten seconds in, I was in.
04:05The melody's so good from the first second that song starts.
04:08And I don't even think I listened to it all the way through.
04:11I texted her back and I was like, I'm in.
04:14Are there any texts from artists like that, like that just, I mean, I'm sure that kind
04:18of, don't you sit back and go, what is this real?
04:20Is this real life right now?
04:21I've had some good moments like that.
04:23Yes, sir.
04:24Some wild.
04:25And then some not artists, just some athletes and stuff.
04:26Wait, wait, wait.
04:27What athletes?
04:28Like, who were you like, holy moly.
04:31I wouldn't want to drop any names.
04:33You can drop, I'm asking.
04:34You're not name dropping if we're asking.
04:36There's been, I mean, it's crazy.
04:37Like some of the greatest athletes of all time, some of the best quarterbacks of all
04:40time and basketball players of all time just popped up on my phone one day.
04:43So that's never bad.
04:45That never puts you in a bad mood.
04:48But the Miranda thing, like we've been friends for a long time.
04:51She's a Texas girl.
04:52And we've known each other.
04:53I've played shows with her before and we've become good friends over time.
04:57And I'd always kind of wondered if, I'd always wanted to ask her to do a song, but I never
05:01really had the guts to do it.
05:02I didn't want to make her tell me no and or make her have to do something she didn't want
05:05to do.
05:06So I was glad she asked me.
05:07It worked out well.
05:08It did.
05:09Thank God.
05:10And then we're like a month away now from the CMA Awards.
05:13We are.
05:14A month.
05:15No, I'm sorry.
05:16It's next week.
05:17A week away.
05:18It's like five days.
05:19Five days away from the CMA Awards.
05:20Can you talk to us about that?
05:22Because aren't you performing?
05:24I may be.
05:25I don't know if that's been announced yet.
05:26I could be.
05:27No, we can't talk about it yet.
05:29I'm sorry.
05:30Can we not talk about it?
05:31I could be performing.
05:32How about this?
05:33Okay.
05:34How about this?
05:35George Strait is also here.
05:36Can we talk about that?
05:37George Strait is going to accept the lifetime, the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award
05:42at the CMAs.
05:43How cool is it for you to be there to watch that happen in person?
05:46It's pretty good.
05:47I might be a small part of that.
05:49That's where I was leading the witness here.
05:52Maybe.
05:53We don't know yet.
05:54We'll see.
05:55I don't know.
05:56It's going to be very exciting.
05:57Yes.
05:58That's all we know right now.
05:59It will be.
06:00And congratulations on What Kind of Man as well.
06:02We love the song.
06:04And thank you for being here at Stars and Strings with Odyssey.