I’ll just go ahead and tell you right now, I have no idea if Koe Wetzel’s going to put out a full-blown country album or not.
He’s been teasing it for quite a while now, and said he’d think about putting something out when he turned 30, but that came and went last year and he wound up releasing Hell Paso in the fall, which I loved.
For me, it felt like the most complete project, if you will, that he’s ever put out, and from a production standpoint, encapsulated that perfect blend of country, rock and grunge that it seems like he’s been trying for on all of his previous albums.
Hell Paso is just the refined, perfected version of that… and that’s not to say I don’t love all his older songs, they’re some of my favorites, but he’s certainly honed his craft over the years, and it was apparent on the project.
And while I would love nothing more than to hear him go full-on George Strait, I’ve also heard that he really loved the sound of Hell Paso and might wanna keep going in that direction musically. And he’s damn near created his own genre at this point, so that seems logical to me.
But, I don’t think that means he won’t be putting out a few country heaters eventually, either, because there were quite a few of those on Hell Paso, like “Three Weeks” and “Sad Song.”
And speaking of someone who writes country heaters, Ernest stopped by the podcast this week to let us know that he and Koe actually penned a few solid country songs at the Sonic Ranch back in January, adding that they get along so well because of the similarities in their musical backgrounds:
“We come from such eclectic backgrounds musically. But you tell me you wanna write a country song, by God we’re gonna write a country song.”
Ernest also said that they wrote a “Texas country” tune or two, which is, quite literally, music to my ears:
“So the whole time I was in there, me and Chandler were picking up guitars, we wrote a swing record… Texas country.
I want Koe Wetzel to have a George Strait, ‘West Texas Town’ type of song, and I think he’s going to. I think he’s going to have a handful of ’em…”
He continued, saying he thinks people would “lose their shit” if Koe just crushed a song like “You Look So Good In Love” in between all the pyro, “f*ck you spittin’ shit” at his concerts, to use Ernest’s exact words:
“Think about it, man. If Koe came out singing some George Strait songs, people would lose their shit.
His show’s still gonna have rock and pyro and all this fuck you spittin’ shit, but then he’ll get up there and sing a ‘You Look So Good In Love’ and people will lose their minds.”
I mean, I’m totally here for that.
In addition to writing with Ernest, Pecos Hurley, Ben Burgess, Bones Owens, Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen also stopped by to write some with Koe.
So regardless of if the songs are truly “country” or not, it seems like we’re in for some good stuff whenever Koe puts new music out again.
He’s currently out on the road for his Road to Hell Paso tour, and you need to get yourself to a show if he’s anywhere near you (and he probably will be).
I just saw him this past weekend, and there’s just nothin’ like a Koe Wetzel live show.
Ernest also told the guys about co-writing Koe’s “Oklahoma Sun” in what he called a “full-stoned idea,” which you can read about more HERE.
And definitely make sure you check out the full podcast with Ernest, it’s a really fun episode full of some great stories and laughs you don’t wanna miss:
And easily one of the sleeper songs from Hell Paso, I’ll leave you with a little “Oklahoma Sun”:
