As any touring musician will tell you, life on the road is not for the faint of heart.
And no one knows that better than Koe Wetzel, who pretty much stays on tour and lives the life of a bona fide rock star. With the release of his first new song in over a year and a half, Koe carries over some of the sentiments on Hell Paso to “Damn Near Normal.”
The new song finds him reflecting on where he’s at in his life at 31 years old, with some very honest lyrics that describe his journey as an artist, which is maybe not as fulfilling as he thought it would be, especially considering that he doesn’t have a family of his own yet because he certainly doesn’t live a “traditional” life.
Written by Wetzel alongside Gabe Simon, Amy Allen, Carrie Karpinen and artist Sam Harris, the first verse is pretty telling in terms of his innermost thoughts
“Real job, good wife, two kids
Don’t know what exit I missed
And this road I’m on is kinda dark alone
Fake job, no wife, no kids
Can’t believe I’m livin’ like this
I’m always alone with no way home
And here we go again, spiralin'”
He continues, admitting that it’s certainly not the healthiest lifestyle in a lot of ways, but that’s “damn near normal” to him:
“And I’m all turned up like the Rio Grande
Drink ten times the weight of a sober man
Ain’t startin’ my day until 2 A.M
And I hate it, so I’m takin’
A little melatonin and a bag of weed
Plus fistful of xans just to fall asleep
Yeah, it’s kind of different than it’s supposed to be
But that’s damn near normal to me”
Koe says
“‘Damn Near Normal’ is a song about this lifestyle that is anything but… waking up somewhere new on the road every day, up playing music all hours of the night with our fans… this is a wild ride we’re on that looks totally different than most people’s ‘normal’… but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
And the new music video that dropped today starts with Koe looking directly at the camera, asking
“Where should I start?”
It then goes into a montage of photos of him growing up, and you see him in places all around his hometown of Pittsburg, Texas, like his High School, some old family land (which he talked about in a teaser for the video), popular restaurants and a few other places as he seemingly reflects on his journey thus far.
It’s a neat contrast of him going back to his roots, while also appreciating everything he’s built and accomplished thus far.
It’s unclear whether this single is the first from a future project, but considering he released his last album, the aforementioned Hell Paso, came out in 2022, it seems likely a new album is probably on the way this year, too.
I think this is a really solid release and song that I’ll go back to often, and I’m just excited to have new Koe music again… with a driving electric guitar and rock-leaning production we’re used to hearing from him, I couldn’t be more excited to have new Koe music to listen to on this lovely Friday… check it out:
