Parmalee

Country Rock Band Parmalee departed Nashville, Tennessee, early Wednesday morning and headed toward Arizona.

The group – made up of brothers Matt and Scott Thomas, their cousin Barry Knox and close friend Josh McSwain – will perform a free concert Friday night at Ak-Chin Circle.

The outdoor show will take place on the lawn north of Ultra Star and will open with “firecracker” Kasey Tyndall. Gates open at 6 p.m.

Tyndall has been on the road with Parmalee on their “HOTDAMALAMA” tour since November.

Parmalee frontman Matt Thomas said it’s the first headlining tour for the band that includes an opening act every night.

“We have Miss Kasey Tyndall with us. She’s a firecracker. We do some collaborations and it’s been fun playing all this new material and just going across the country,” Thomas said over the phone while strumming a guitar inside a Nashville recording studio Tuesday afternoon.

Friday, the band will perform songs off its newest album ‘27861,’ released in July. The album’s namesake is the ZIP code for the tiny town of Parmele, North Carolina. Its population was last recorded by the U.S. Census to include less than 300 people.

The group changed the spelling of their band’s name to “Parmalee” to make pronunciation easier for their fans, according to the Parmalee website.

The story behind the band’s homage to the Parmele community begins with their origin story, naturally.

When the band formed in 2001, the group sought out a recording space where they could write songs far away from distractions. They eventually found it inside a barn in Parmele that belonged to a friend of Thomas’ father.

“The first beginnings of the band came from that little barn, so we figured we’d give it a shout-out,” Thomas said.

The 12-track album was whittled down from 35 pieces the group had to decide from, including its single “Sunday Morning.”

Local fans can also expect to hear favorites from Parmalee’s previous records at the show as well.

Parmalee will play a show in Flagstaff Thursday before arriving in Maricopa. The band will open for Clay Walker Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

To listen to the full interview, click here.

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