Have a Hotdamalama time with Parmalee

Brothers Matt and Scott Thomas, their cousin Barry Knox, and their best friend Josh McSwain grew up in Parmele, NC listening to their parents play music and decided that they should start a band.

“When we grew up, my dad played music and guitar was the coolest thing on earth,” Matt Thomas said. “When we grew up a little bit, we got guitars and started a band.”

Parmalee officially formed in 2001. After years of hard work, the band’s 2013 single, “Carolina,” launched them to country music fame.

“It’s mindblowing to see how something that big hits all at once,” Thomas said.

While it will always be the song that defines them, it isn’t the end of their journey. In 2017, the group released 27861, which is the zip code of Parmele. In April, Parmalee released a Party Pack.

The six-song playlist features two new songs and showcases their best summer picks.

Thomas said that they put the Party Pack out to commemorate the release of their song “Hotdamalama.”

“We just wanted to have fun, and that’s just something you say when you get excited,” Thomas said.

Their summer soundtrack takes listeners on a journey through a weekend complete with epic parties, morning mimosas, day drinkin’ and solving those morning-after mysteries like how a car ended up in the pool.

Their upcoming performance is a lot like this... but hopefully without the car in the pool.

“We just have a good time. That’s what it’s all about,” Thomas said when I asked him what I could expect from seeing Parmalee live.

In addition to touring, the foursome releases a their “Parmalisms: The Country Dictionary” every Wednesday. 

“We explain a word we use that is a derivative of words from where we grew up,” Thomas said.

“Hotdamalama” is a good example. It’s something you say when you get excited.

Head out to Red’s Ice House on Thursday, July  19. It’s sure to be a hotdamalama good time!