The day Parker McCollum wrote “Handle On You” was just an ordinary session with songwriter Monty Criswell.
“I had been tossing some melodies around but didn’t really have anything that I was too over the top about or over the moon about when Monty came over that day,” Parker says. “And he was like, ‘Man, I’ve got this idea for this song. It’s called “Finally Got a Handle on You.”‘”
As Monty sang his idea for the first line, Parker answered with the next.
“I just literally just kept singing it out. And he was writing it down,” he recalls. “And I’d sing it out and he’d write it down, and he’d sing something out and I’d write it down. And it just fell out so quickly … 90% of the time, it does not go like that.”
Still, in his typically humble manner, Parker didn’t really think too much of it.
“A couple weeks later, Monty had a demo tracked up and wanted to know if I wanted to come over and stop by and sing vocals on it,” Parker continues. “And I sang it and he was like, ‘Dude, that’s a hit.’ He’s like, ‘That’s a hit, dude.’”
“And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m weird. I don’t ever even say that,’” he reveals. “I’m like, just write the song, record it. If they want to put it at radio, good. I don’t ever want to jinx anything or think too highly of anything that I do.”
“And man, I think he was right,” Parker finally acquiesces.
“Handle On You” is the lead single from Parker’s follow-up to 2021’s Gold Chain Cowboy and appears on track to be his third #1 in a row.
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