Has it really been three whole years?
It’s hard to believe that much time has gone by since Koe Wetzel put out the masterpiece that was his surprise record Harold Saul High on June 21st, 2019.
He named Harold Saul High in honor of his late uncle and best friend, and it launched his career that was already on the fast track into a whole other realm of star power beyond the Texas scene.
Since then, he’s released another album, Sellout, and even signed a record deal with Columbia Records.
There are quite a few people in the world of music criticism and reviews who will probably laugh at the fact that I’m calling it a masterpiece, but I don’t really care. He managed to tell stories, good, bad and ugly, with humor, solid songwriting and captivating melodies.
I mean, “Ragweed” is still one of my favorite songs of all time, and I don’t think I ever would’ve known what the term “Sancho” meant if it wasn’t fort his album, that’s for sure.
He shook up the Texas country music scene at a time when they really needed something new and fresh, for better or for worse, some might say. Since then, we’ve really seen a surge in the Texas rock scene with bands like Pecos & The Rooftops, Kolby Cooper, Read Southall Band, Dylan Wheeler, Kody West & more quickly becoming household names as well.
Koe has major influences of rock and grunge that are obvious to pretty much anyone who knows anything about music. He’s also said he plans on doing a full-blown country album when he turns 30, which I believe is in July, for whatever that’s worth.
Really though, I think a huge part about what we all love about him is that he’s a wildcard.
And, if nothing else, a breathe of fresh air in a genre that can be afraid to cross any lines or say something that might be considered “inappropriate.”
For me, Harold Saul High is one of those rare “no skips” albums that I still go back to constantly and probably always will for the unique sound and unabashed authenticity and honesty. It charted on the Billboard country charts back in 2019, peaking at #10, and also peaked at #20 on U.S. Billboard Top 200 albums chart.
And to see how far he’s come since he dropped this fan-favorite is pretty neat, too. I mean, nobody puts asses in the seats and sells tickets like Koe, and if Snoop Dogg is impressed by how you’re doing it, then you must be doing something right…
Koe’s also been teasing another new record coming soon, and dropped the lead single, “April Showers,” a few months back.
He already confirmed not long ago that it was almost done, and he would be dropping it sometime this year:
“We’re throwing out all the stops on this record. It’s more alternative, southern rock, heavier rock than what we’re used to. But I wanted this record to be that before I started making my country music.
This record does have some country sounding songs, but overall it’s more of an alternative record.
I just wanted to go in and kinda give everybody somethin’ to chew on before they got the full country record.”
We also know that it will likely include some sort of collaboration with Diplo, and potentially Kodak Black, so who knows…
Maybe we’ll get another brilliant surprise just like Harold Saul High.
I’ll be turning these up today:
“Ragweed”
“Forever”
“Sancho”
“Too High to Cry”
