Koe Wetzel joins Katie Neal in our Audacy Sound Space studio located at the Hard Rock in the heart of Nashville for Totally Private Country!
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00:00I'm Katie Neal from Odyssey Country here at the Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville at our brand
00:07new Odyssey Soundspace with our totally private performer, Coetzel.
00:11Thank you so much for being here, dude.
00:12Thank you for having me.
00:13We're excited.
00:14This is going to be a fun little show tonight we're going to do.
00:16I feel like, maybe it's just where my algorithm is, but like every time I'm online lately
00:21I feel like you are everywhere.
00:22Do you feel like you're everywhere?
00:23I don't know.
00:24I've been trying to stay off social media as much as possible.
00:29It's cool.
00:30You know, everything that's been happening is really insane for us, so we're excited
00:35to be in Nashville and be around everything.
00:38It's been cool.
00:39It's going to be great.
00:40So you ended 2024 in a big way, your very first number one at Country Radio.
00:45How did that feel?
00:46It was crazy.
00:47I think it was unexpected.
00:48It was one of the first songs that we had went to Country Radio with and for it to go
00:58the way it did, it was kind of mind blowing for us, but it was a lot of fun.
01:02Yeah, very fun.
01:03And it's a great song too.
01:04Yeah, thank you.
01:05Talk a little bit about the story behind that song.
01:08So we put the song together actually here in Nashville at RCA.
01:14We went out to Tornillo in El Paso for the Nine Lives record.
01:19Dave Simon, Amy Allen, Kerry Kay, Sam Harris, just a really good, great group of folks.
01:28Went out there, got a bunch of songs done and everything kind of went kind of easy.
01:31So we did another four or five days and came out with a bunch of other cool songs and High
01:36Road was one of them.
01:37I think it came really natural, really easy.
01:42Yeah, it was just kind of a relationship song, you know, after you've been together with
01:47a certain person for so long and kind of go back on the ins and outs of, you know, going
01:51through a relationship and all that and kind of wanted to have a girl's perspective on
01:56it.
01:57So we had Miss Jessie Murph and she came in and absolutely killed it.
02:01And I don't know, it just kind of made the song what it was.
02:04Yeah, and it's a great song.
02:05You know, when I was like prepping for this, because you and I have never gotten the chance
02:08to sit down before and I feel like I read probably two dozen articles, interviews, all
02:13this stuff and everybody's got their own way of trying to describe like what the Co-Wetzel
02:18sound is.
02:19But I want to know, like from you, how do you describe it?
02:22Like you meet somebody at the bar, you're like, I'm a musician, like, oh, what is your
02:25music sound like?
02:26What do you say?
02:27Oh, we've always called it like hillbilly punk rock, you know, garage rock or whatever
02:31it is.
02:32And and lately, you know, with with Nine Lives is kind of a different record than people
02:37were used to from me.
02:38And I don't know, I don't know what we're what we call it these days.
02:44Garage, garage country, I guess we'll call it garage country.
02:48That sounds good.
02:49If that ever becomes the thing, then we'll just leave it there.
02:52You mentioned the Nine Lives record.
02:54You said this was kind of like a departure from stuff that you'd previously done and
02:57end up kind of being like therapy session for you.
03:00Now that this has been out for a while, like how do you feel about like this record?
03:04How do you feel like fans received it?
03:07You know, I wasn't really worried about how the fans are going to take it, you know, because
03:10we have such a little fan base, you know, coming from Texas and and having that fan
03:15base there and the surrounding areas and everything.
03:18And so I wasn't really worried about how they were going to take it.
03:22You know, I knew with the little fan base that they were they were going to kind of
03:27dig whatever we put out.
03:29But I feel like this is a record that they kind of were expecting from me for a long
03:32time.
03:33I did, you know, the drunk partying records and and crazy outbursts and everything else
03:41for so long.
03:42And this is kind of a record that was a part of me growing up a little bit and kind of
03:46growing with the fans and hopefully, you know, hoping that they would grow with me.
03:52And the response on was great.
03:53So I think it kind of opened my eyes up a little bit to, you know, this whole thing
04:00isn't just a party anymore and, you know, going around and and making enough money to
04:07get to the next one.
04:08It's a lot bigger than I am, so I think it was for the better.
04:13It was a lot of fun.
04:15These days are a lot more fun, you know, I'm getting a little bit older and everything.
04:18But yeah, they they took it great and again, a whole lot a whole different new fan base,
04:26I guess you'd say, you know, getting with the mainstream country and everything.
04:28So shout out to all the new fans and everybody.
04:31I know it's been it's been cool.
04:33You mentioned like your fan base.
04:35I think everyone knows like you have a like amazingly loyal, rabid, like ready to party
04:40fan base.
04:41And I feel like that has come from like, you know, the years and years you've been touring
04:44in Texas was kind of like not getting out of Texas, but expanding from Texas to the
04:49Nashville mainstream scene.
04:52Was that always part of the plan or did that just kind of start to happen organically?
04:55No, I think it happened organically.
04:57You know, we've we've been playing, you know, U.S. and playing all over the U.S. and pulling
05:03huge crowds for a while.
05:05But it wasn't, you know, not a whole lot's changed from then to now, I feel like, you
05:10know, only thing I feel like has changed has been radio and us getting to a larger scale
05:16of audience or whatever.
05:17And I remember, you know, whenever they're like, why do you want to why do you want to
05:22get on the radio?
05:23You got all this going for you.
05:24And I said, you know, there's just a certain point that you can go being independent and
05:29not having radio play.
05:31And we just want to reach, you know, a bigger audience.
05:34And that's kind of what radio in Nashville has done for us.
05:37And, you know, we'll never forget Texas.
05:39We're all still live in Texas.
05:42We're still the Texas country cats that we we've been for since the beginning.
05:47But I think now with the being in Nashville a lot and the all the radio play and everything,
05:53it's just helped us gain a bigger audience and kind of expand a little bit.
05:58For sure.
05:59Well, for me, I think it's been really fun to watch the last few years, the moment that
06:03like artists from Texas have had, because I remember when I first learned people were
06:07like, no, you can just be a Texas country artist and tour your whole life and make millions
06:11of dollars and never leave Texas.
06:13But like seeing Cody Johnson come out and Parker, who I know you're really close with
06:17and you obviously, what do you think is kind of like attributed to that shift of like going
06:23from Texas to mainstream?
06:25I think just staying loyal, honestly, and just, you know, our Texas fans, it's kind
06:30of it's kind of a two way street, I guess.
06:33It's like either to kind of screw you, you know, we're done with you type shit or, you
06:39know, they kind of stick behind you.
06:40But I think just staying true to who you are and coming up and playing, you know, the same
06:47music that you've always played, you know, not leaving them behind has been a big part
06:50of it.
06:51I think Parker and Kojo will say the same, I'm sure.
06:55But yeah, it's I think all we're doing is just really showing the rest of the country,
07:00the rest of the world what Texas music is about, you know, and that means a lot to me.
07:04I know it means a lot to them, too.
07:06So it's cool to see, you know, Texas music getting out there a little bit.
07:11You know, I felt like you said, it's always kind of been that tight knit group and we
07:15could hang around Texas and play for the rest of our lives, make a damn good living.
07:18But I thought we wanted to get out a little bit and share music with the rest of the world.
07:23And that's what we're trying to do.
07:24For sure.
07:25And I think it's important.
07:26I do want to talk about like the fans from Texas are amazing.
07:28So I lived in New York for a long time.
07:30And when Texas Independence Day would roll around, there would do this show and like
07:34Pat Green, Randy, like everybody would come up and play the show.
07:37And I remember the first time I went on stage and I could not believe how loud people were
07:42like and how passionate like it's a thing.
07:44They're wild.
07:45They they like to have a good time.
07:47They love their Texas music.
07:48They love their Texas boys.
07:50It's getting back.
07:51We got we got to play two shows at the end of last year after the damn near normal tour.
07:56We got to play Austin and Fort Worth and getting back because we didn't play a whole lot of
07:59Texas last year and getting back and seeing all the folks that came out.
08:04You know, it was it was good to be home.
08:07So we enjoy being back in Texas, man.
08:09There's no place like it, I feel like.
08:11And especially if you come up from Texas and play music.
08:14You've been like or being known for having these like really like high energy live shows.
08:20What are like the things that you and the band do during the day?
08:22Like, is there any like pre-show rituals?
08:24Are there traditions, superstitions, like anything like that?
08:27No, not really.
08:28We we kind of just do the same shit every day on the road.
08:31We usually wake up around lunch and I was kind of diddle around, hit soundcheck and
08:39then we'll have a couple beers, probably take a nap because we're hurting from the night
08:42before and around 637, you know, we all get we all get stage ready and we start drinking
08:50tequila and usually we'll finish a bottle or two before we get on stage and and then
08:54it's time to raise hell.
08:56Yeah.
08:57Speaking of raising hell, going out on the road with Hardy on the Jim Bob tour for the
09:01U.S.
09:02I remember when I saw this, I was like, oh, God, like this is going to be a real good
09:07time.
09:08Talk about what you're excited about for that.
09:09I'm excited about it.
09:10You know, me and Hardy, we've been boys for a while.
09:12We got to do a acoustic tour back in I think it was like twenty one.
09:16He came out of Texas.
09:18We played a bunch of shows and a great dude.
09:22Love his music, man.
09:23And he has that that, you know, that that rock country.
09:27I feel like he's just dove into it so, so well, I feel like, you know, by blending the
09:33genres.
09:34And that's kind of where we've been, you know, throughout the career, trying to blend those
09:37as well.
09:38So it's going to be fun.
09:40It's a lot of fun.
09:42We've got some juniors on there.
09:43Got to meet him.
09:44He came out of Texas during Austin and Fort Worth and we got to meet and hang out.
09:49Great dude.
09:50Love his music.
09:51So it's going to be a lot of fun.
09:52I hope nobody goes to jail.
09:53We're going to have a good time.
09:54I was going to say jail or broken bones.
09:56Didn't you like break your shoulder on that acoustic tour?
09:58Yeah.
09:59On the Hardy.
10:00Yeah.
10:01That's.
10:02Yeah.
10:03We're not going to talk about that.
10:04OK.
10:05I still heard from.
10:06I'm sure.
10:07I'm sure you guys are going to have a great time.
10:08I kind of cracked up because I was like, oh, my God, these two are going on tour, but both
10:12of them are expecting baby girls this year.
10:14So I think it's going to be a little probably more toned down than maybe when you first
10:18planned.
10:19I agree.
10:20I think it I think we're going to wind it back a little bit more.
10:22We're not we're not as agile and, you know, we're not as crazy as we used to be.
10:28Or I'll take that back.
10:30We might be as crazy as we used to be.
10:31We're just a little bit older.
10:33Yeah.
10:34A little more responsibility.
10:35Hangovers hurt a little bit more.
10:36They hurt a little more.
10:37Right.
10:38Yeah.
10:39So that's really exciting.
10:40Do you feel like has that started to influence songwriting or anything yet?
10:44Not yet.
10:45It hasn't yet.
10:46And I don't know.
10:47I don't know how that's going to affect everything.
10:49You know, I think once it once it gets here and it really hits me, then I'm sure it will.
10:54For sure.
10:55Yeah.
10:56Me and Bailey are really excited about it and it's going to be a big change and a good
11:00change for me.
11:01I feel like.
11:02For sure.
11:03You mentioned that you have been here in town working on new music.
11:04What can you say about like the next chapter for Coe Wetzel?
11:09Just kind of growing off of Nine Lives, you know, I think the music that I've that I've
11:14made for so long has just kind of been instilled into me and kind of soldered into me and with
11:21this new music, with the new record, I wanted to kind of get a little bit more of the rock
11:25and roll side back to that Texas rock and roll and working with Gabe Simon again.
11:31So it's fun.
11:32You know, every time we go in the studio, it's different.
11:36Every day is different.
11:37It's just kind of going there blind, having a little bit of an idea what you're going
11:42to write, but not having a whole outlook on it and kind of stepping back after the day
11:47of work and being like, holy shit, that's, you know, that's pretty cool.
11:50And it's and that's that's bringing a lot more joy back to songwriting and being in
11:54the studio because we're going straight from writing to recording right then.
11:58And I feel like that's how it should be.
12:01We're having a lot of fun with it, so I don't know.
12:03We'll see how it comes out.
12:05I know you've got a lot of friends here in town.
12:07Has there been any talk about like collaborations for this record or not yet?
12:11Not yet. We're we're just kind of focused on on getting, you know, the songs where they
12:15want to be. And then I think maybe we'll look later on here a little bit once everything
12:20kind of gets into the shape of the record.
12:22And right now we've got a couple, you know, got a bunch of songs.
12:26We just don't like to have a lot of songs.
12:28And I kind of come back to them and decide which ones are going to make the record.
12:30But, um, yeah, it's I don't know.
12:34Yeah, I'm really excited to hear what's next.
12:37OK, so you're here playing a totally private show for a listener who won and got to bring
12:41four friends. Obviously, their dream show is to have a Coetzel performance.
12:45Who would you say, like if you could have a totally private show with like anybody, who
12:49do you want to see?
12:51Ooh, man, I think it's probably a loaded question because a lot of people you're like
12:56friends with now and you never want to like make them play a show for you.
12:59But if you could just be a fan.
13:02Oh, man, that's a hard one.
13:08Right now, probably Zack Top, honestly.
13:11Zack, is anyone having more fun than Zack Top right now?
13:15I don't think so.
13:16I called I called it like a year or two ago, too.
13:19So whenever he was putting out, I guess he's putting out videos on TikTok or Instagram,
13:24whatever. And I was like, this cat's got it for sure.
13:26And now seeing where he's going, it's insane.
13:28And I love his music.
13:29No, I'm a huge.
13:30I grew up on 90s music.
13:31So I love some Zack Top.
13:34Maybe, I don't know, Kurt Cobain broke down.
13:39There you go.
13:40Yeah, absolutely.
13:42That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for being here.
13:44We so appreciate it.
13:45So excited about the new music and congrats on again on the number one.
13:48Thank you. I appreciate it.