Ya know, today should really be considered a national holiday, amirite?
On this fateful day in 2016, Koe Wetzel was arrested for public intoxication in Stephenville, Texas, and wound up spending a few nights in jail.
He then wrote a song about his experience called “February 28th, 2016,” which was included on his 2016 album Noise Complaint. It became a breakout hit for Koe, and though he often says it’s his worst song, is still a fan-favorite that people will scream along every word to at a live show.
Really, it’s one of, if not the, absolute favorites among his die hard fans, and this day has become a holiday of sorts for them over the years…
And Koe usually has some advice for everyone when this day rolls around on the calendar.
In 2021, when it fell on a Sunday, he reminded everyone to go to church:
And last year, he hit us with a simple, yet wise, nugget of wisdom:
Thus far today, it’s mostly been crickets from him, though I’m sure he’ll have something to say about it at some point before the day is officially over.
And I think most of us know the gist of what happened, but Koe talked a little bit more in-depth about his time at Erath County Jail on the Texas Music Scene a few years back, which yours truly broke down in honor of the special seven-year anniversary over on our TikTok:
@whiskeyriff Behind the song with Casey from Whiskey Riff! Happy Koe Day!! Full article on WhiskeyRiff.com #whiskeyriff #behindthesong #koewetzel #feb282016 #fyp ♬ February 28, 2016 – Koe Wetzel
His live performance of the song from Backroads Musicfest in 2018 in particular is always worth a watch, and there’s just something about it I love that I can’t quite put my finger on, though one Youtube comment summed it up quite well:
“I cannot explain how this song makes me feel, shit is electric.”
And it’s an electric performance, from Koe and the band firing on all cylinders, to the crowd fully involved and singing along to every word.
If you haven’t seen it before, now’s the time to change that:
Turn it up, get a taco, have a beer, and make sure you call yourself an Uber if need be…
“February 28, 2016”
