‘American Idol’ Star Scotty McCreery Talks the Heartbreak of “Gettin’ Old” and Mentoring the New Generation

Scotty McCreery teamed with 20-year-old Callista Clark for her new song “Gettin’ Old,” which is out now.

The collaboration is one of few that McCreery has done in his career – and it’s not because he doesn’t want to.

“I’m an introverted guy, and collaborations have never come extremely naturally to me,” McCreery said. “Also living in North Carolina, I don’t bump into folks in the grocery store who are like, ‘Hey, let’s a song.’ I would love to.”

“Gettin’ Old” is a heartbreaker about a relationship the singer thought would last forever but instead realizes it’s dying.

Written by Clark along with Clark with Averie Bielski and Karen Kasowski, lyrics include: We should be| Further down the road than we are| Trading bands of gold, but we aren’t | Thought we’d be getting old together| But now it’s just getting old| Kinda getting old

While a happily married McCreery can’t relate to the song’s lyrics right now, he said Clark “wrote a heckuva song.” He is “pumped to be a part of it.”

“Her voice is just ridiculous,” McCreery said of Clark. “The run she can do; I think I would fall over if I tried to do what she does with her voice. She’s so talented and has something she wants to share with the world.”

Clark sent “Gettin’ Old” to McCreery to listen to and he said he “fell in love with it.”

Scotty McCreery Said Callista Clark Wrote “A Heckuva Song”

“I was honored she wanted me to sing on it,” he said. “I’m excited for folks to hear it. It’s a great song.”

McCreery got to Clark when she opened his UK tour a few years ago. He was astounded by her talent then. Ten years her senior, McCreery said he’d happily mentor Clark or anyone else who asked for advice or wanted to pick his brain for information.

“I had those artists that helped me along my way, so it’s weird to be in that position at 30,” he said. “I’ll do guitar pulls, and I’ll be the youngest guy on stage still the veteran act on stage. It’s an interesting dynamic.”

McCreery has been a staple in the country music scene since he won “American Idol” in 2011. He was 17 years old.

“I’ve learned a lot of the good,” McCreery said. “I think it’s mainly good out there, but there’s some bad and some speed bumps you want to try to avoid if you can. I’ve got a pretty good grasp on this business now. I’d love to be in that (mentor) role. I think I’ve been blessed to bless others.”

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