On Parmalee's "Greatest Hits," from their new album For You (out July 30), the band sings "Got your country from your hometown / Hip-hop from your college crowd / And rock and roll from your daddy's old 45s / Got your Motown from you mama's soul /Makes me wanna hold you close/ And slow dance to the rhythm of you all night."
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The song, which compares a love to a perfect blend of musical genres, is a fitting tune for a band that's made a career out of combining their pop, rock, hip-hop, R&B and country influences to develop a sound that's taken them to the top of the Billboard Country Airplay charts with hits "Carolina" and the Blanco Brown collaboration "Just the Way."
The band, made up of Matt Thomas, his brother Scott, cousin Barry Knox and childhood friend Josh McSwain, first drew inspiration from a Georgia-born artist who merged country roots with a southern rock soul and became a superstar: Travis Tritt.
For lead singer Matt Thomas, it all goes back to playing Tritt's rowdy kiss-off "Here's A Quarter" in his dad's band.
"We were introduced to country music through Travis Tritt," Thomas tells Wide Open Country. "There was something about the way he blended his country sound with southern soul. We played 'Here's a Quarter' with my dad in his band growing up. The crowd always loved when we'd play that one."
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For You is Parmalee's first album in four years. (The North Carolina natives released their sixth studio album 27861 in 2017.) "Just the Way" marks the band's first No. 1 in 8 years.
