Honoring the late, great Keith Gattis.
Koe Wetzel is gearing up to release a new album called 9 Lives next month, which will actually include two covers in a rendition of XXXTENTACION’s “Depression & Obsession,” as well as a cut of Keith Gattis’ “Reconsider.”
The song was written and recorded by Gattis and included on his 2005 Big City Blues album, and additionally, Charlie Robison recorded it and included “Reconsider” on his 2009 Beautiful Day album.
You might recognize Gattis as a songwriter first, as he wrote songs for the King himself George Strait, in addition to the likes of Willie Nelson, Randy Travis, Kid Rock, Miranda Lambert, Randy Houser, Kenny Chesney and Wade Bowen, just to name a few.
He tragically passed away last year at the age of 52, and he reportedly died from injuries sustained during a tractor accident, sadly leaving behind his wife Penny and their two young children.
And while Koe actually doesn’t do many covers, which is why it’s kind of surprising that he included two on the 12-song tracklist, I spoke to him last week about his aforementioned album (more to come there), and he explained that he was inspired to do the cover after getting into a lot of Gattis’ music in the wake of his death last year:
“I had a buddy, I didn’t really… I didn’t know a whole lot of Keith Gattis, but I knew a lot of the songs that he had written. And then we were at the ranch one night, and one of my buddies was playing it, and I’m a huge Charlie Robison fan.
With him passing away, and then hearing about how Keith Gattis passed away, and then figuring out that Charlie had cut a lot of Keith Gattis’ songs, there was just something with everything that happened all around that time.”
He explained that after hearing Gattis’ original version of “Reconsider,” it “pissed [him] off” that he never got to see him in concert or really appreciate his music while he was alive. Koe says there was just something “deep down” inside telling him to cut the song.
Obviously, as with most artists who cover a song of someone they respect and admire, Koe just hopes that he “did it justice”:
“Hearing ‘Reconsider,’ I was like, holy sh*t, you know, and it kind of pissed me off that I never got to see Keith Gattis while he was alive and really dig into him while he was around. So I just felt like, I don’t know, something inside me really wanted to cut a Keith Gattis song.
‘Reconsider’ was the one that, for some reason, deep down in me was like, you have to cut the song. So I was really excited to do that, and just hope that we did it justice.”
He also said that it’s one he’s really excited to play live for the fans once 9 Lives drops, and I think it definitely fits into Koe’s catalog in terms of the more sad, inward-facing lyrics lamenting the end of a relationship that he does so well.
Because of that, I think it will be a quick favorite among fans, and you can hear the teaser of Koe’s cover here:
And of course the Keith Gattis original:
Koe has released four songs from the record thus far, including “9 Lives (Black Cat),” “Damn Near Normal,” “Sweet Dreams” and “High Road” featuring Jessie Murph.
9 Lives was produced predominantly by Gabe Simon (Noah Kahan’s Stick Season) alongside a lineup of trusted collaborators like Josh Serrato, Carrie K and Sam Harris (X Ambassadors).
“High Road”
9 Lives tracklist:
“Continued” Skit
“9 Lives (Black Cat)” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Gabe Simon)
“Casamigos” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Sam Harris, Ben Burgess, Gabe Simon)
“Damn Near Normal” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Gabe Simon, Carrie Karpinen, Sam Harris)
“Leigh” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Gabe Simon)
“Twister” (Ropyr Wetzel, Steve Rusch, Ben Burgess, Josh Serrato)
“High Road” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Gabe Simon, Carrie Karpinen)
“Reconsider” (Charles John Brocco, Keith Quenton Gattis)
“Hatchet” (Gabe Simon, Mike Coogan)
“Sweet Dreams” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Josh Serrato, Gabe Simon, Sam Harris)
“Runnin’ Low” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Sam Harris, Gabe Simon, Ben Burgess)
“Bar Song” (Blake “Shy” Carter, Breyan Isaac, Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, Dave Gibson)
“Last Outlaw Alive” (Josh Serrato, Ben Burgess, Sam Harris)
