Parmalee isn’t just a great band, they are family as well… literally. The group was formed back in 2001 when brothers Matt (lead vocals/guitar) and Scott Thomas (drums) teamed up with cousin Barry Knox (bass) and lifelong best friend Josh McSwain (guitar). They have been to hell and back over the course of their career, culminating in their first number one single with ‘Carolina.’ Recently Barry Knox sat down with New England Country Music to chat about their journey, their music and their fans.
Being family and in a successful band together can have many advantages but not many disadvantages as Barry told us, “We’ve dedicated our whole lives to this and stuck through it all as a family.” This includes a near fatal incident in 2010 when Scott Thomas was shot three times and nearly died when he and his brother were held up outside of their van. He spent 35 days in the hospital (10 in a coma) as family and fans came to his aid helping with hospital bills. Barry attributes a lot of the bands success to their tight bond. “We’ve been together since 2001 and not many bands today last that long and being a family has a lot to do with that. We’ve known Josh forever and he’s our family as well, we call him the ‘adopted one.’ We have arguments like any band but we keep it cool. At the end of the day we always have to go back to grandma’s house for Thanksgiving dinner.”
Growing up the guys we’re heavily influenced by Matt and Scott’s fathers band who played music by Travis Tritt, the Allman Brothers band and The Kentucky Headhunters. They also weren’t limited to being fans of one type of music as they listened to rock, pop, country and everything in between. As Barry puts it, “We just like good music.”
Parmalee’s first taste of success came when they wrote and recorded their single ‘Musta Had A Good Time’ in their RV “studio.” This song led them to a record contract with Stoney Creek Records and also to the guys being kicked out of their own video shoot for the single. “We rented a house in Nashville and there was everything from trapeze artists, farm animals to fire breathers. We’d been there all day and night. Some of the farm animals got into the house and went to the bathroom. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back and the owner kicked us out.”
Their biggest milestone came in 2013 when their single, ‘Carolina,’ hit number one on the Country Airplay chart. At the time, it was the longest climbing single by a duo or group in the 24-year history of the Billboard Country Airplay Chart. Barry commented, “This is the song we’re most proud of. It was the song that we wrote which really defined us a band and turned our whole lives around.”
Their latest single, ‘Close Your Eyes,’ is quickly climbing up the charts and is a crowd favorite at their live shows. This is great to see as the song almost didn’t even make the final album. The record label brought the song to the band at the last minute and they knew immediately it was a Parmalee song.
One of the coolest moments of the guys’ career occurred in 2006 when they were recording at a studio in Los Angeles. Nikki Sixx, of Motley Crue, had learned of the band through a business partner and came out to the studio for a few days to work with Parmalee. He and the band worked together writing and producing some songs for the EP ‘Complicated.‘
Parmalee knows that one of the main reasons for their success is a rabid fan base who are at all of their shows and have a huge presence online. The guys are one of the most socially active bands on Twitter and for good reason. “It’s great (social media) as an avenue that people can go to anytime of the day and have music right at their fingertips. It’s amazing for us to be able to connect with fans and let them know where we are, what we’re doing & give them insight on what it’s like to be in the band. We call it the Parmalee family!”
When not on the road you can find the guys fishing, working out, or in the case of Josh McSwain… riding his Harley. “You can either catch us at the gym or by the river bank.” And if Barry had to choose his own festival-type show to attend he’d want to see a lineup of The Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Garth Brooks and Snoop Dogg! That would be quite the interesting show if they decided to play some duets as can only imagine Snoop joining Garth for ‘Two Pina Coladas.’
This is only the beginning of the story for Parmalee as they will continue to ride the road, play exciting live shows and record music that fans of country music love. New England Country Music would like to thank Barry for taking the time to talk to us and we look forward to covering them more in the future on this exciting ride.
You can follow Parmalee on Twitter, Facebook, and on their website.
This article was written my NECM contributing write Mike Sullivan. You can follow me on Twitter.