Country band Parmalee, made up of brothers Matt and Scott Thomas, cousin Barry Knox and longtime friend Josh McSwain, is feeling especially grateful these days.
The group — known for hits no. 1 like “Carolina” and “Take My Name” — she dropped her luxury album For you 2 September 22, and the release is more significant than they could have imagined.
“Since the incident, I always celebrate my second birthday on September 21st,” says Scott, who was seriously injured after being shot during an armed robbery in 2010. “I had a 5% chance of survival. These guys didn’t know if I was going to live or die,” he adds of his bandmates.
Scott Thomas, Matt Thomas, Josh McSwain and Barry Knox of Parmalee.
Alyssa Gafkjen
Scott’s brother Matt still remembers the shooting in great detail.
“We played a club gig on Monday night, and two guys tried to rob us in our camper at gunpoint afterwards. [Scott was] shot three times. That night we had to go to the hospital. It was terrible – he says.
“The craziest part,” the brothers add, was that the band was on the verge of a record deal at the same time.
“It was supposed to happen and then the train just derailed,” says Matt. “Scott was going to die soon, and all we could focus on was getting him better because we had to get back to Nashville.”
Blanco Brown talks about new song ‘Just the Way’ with Parmalee
The band also thanks their fans, friends and family for helping them get through such a challenging time, both emotionally and financially.
“Everyone was raising money for us. Local bands, people at concerts so we could have a little money in the bank to pay the credit card bills we owed and to pay his hospital bills and go back and forth and things like that,” says Matt.
In fact, getting support from family is something the band has been fortunate to do since the beginning — Matt and Scott’s mom took out a second mortgage on her home to help Parmalee pay for the first recording of “Caroline.”
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Matt and Scott Thomas with their mom.
Courtesy of Parmalea
“She always supported us. She raised us as a single mother for a long time, but she simply did everything. I’m sure the other ladies in the community thought she was crazy because we just couldn’t get it going and we couldn’t make it work,” Matt recalls. “We finally did.”
With release from For you 2, and the band’s latest single “Girl in Mine” is on track to become their fourth No. 1 hit. 1, the group is thrilled to continue following each day. They are currently on tour with Train and will be hitting the road with Kane Brown in 2024.
The revitalized Parmalee are back in the soul-baring songs from the new album ‘For You’
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“We all have a desire not to go back to our old jobs,” explains Barry Knox.
Josh McSwain adds, “We’re just trying to make a living from music. It’s what we love to do, so it keeps us going.”
“We were all making $10 an hour doing construction jobs, working in the woods, setting up furniture, just to keep this band going,” says Matt. “There’s not a day that I can walk by and see a gas station where guys are filling up trucks, they’ve been working on construction and I know they’re working hard and it’s hot. And I’m like, ‘Man, I’m so grateful to be able to just play music.'”
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For Scott, that sentiment rings true and remains that much more special.
“I talked to the management, they all said, ‘You realize that when the album comes out, it’s kind of like a birthday present,'” he says with a soft laugh. “So it really means a lot for this new album and the new songs will be out on the 22nd.
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Source: HIS Education