Parker McCollum's thankful for his CMA Song of the Year nod: 'That's as good as it gets'

Parker McCollum's not just a singer, he's a songwriter and prides himself in that art.

That's why having "Burn It Down" nominated for CMA Song of the Year means a lot to him.

"That's as good as it gets for me and that's really the one award I think that carries a bunch of weight for me just as a songwriter, because it is about the songwriting," Parker tells ABC Audio.

"Just the nomination for me is plenty. And getting to write with [Lori McKenna, Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey from The Love Junkies] and call them, I mean, they're basically family to me now," shares Parker. "They come down to my house and go to the ranch in Texas and write and we'll do that again in January."

While the nomination "is plenty" for Parker, winning it would be like a big pat on the back.

"It would be the one award that really made me feel like a real songwriter. Just the fact that something as big as the CMAs thought something that I was a part of writing deserved any kind of attention at all," he says. "That would be heavy." 

The other Song of the Year-nominated tracks are Post Malone and Morgan Wallen's "I Had Some Help," Chris Stapleton's "White Horse," and Cody Johnson's "The Painter" and "Dirt Cheap."

The 2024 CMAs, hosted by Luke Bryan, Lainey Wilson and Peyton Manning, air live from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu.

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