“Come on, come through, New York, New York.”
Everyone has facts about themselves that might be surprising for others to hear. Whether it’s a guilty pleasure, a show they watch, how they like to spend their free time, or a quirk, they have, country music fans love hearing these random facts about their favorite artists, even if they are surprising.
Koe Wetzel recently shared a surprising fact while sitting down with Olana Stroub for the Wrangler Backstage Podcast. During a segment of the interview, Stroub asks Wetzel if he could make a Mount Rushmore of artists who would the four be, and it was not limited to just country music artists.
Of course, we love this question as Tracy Lawrence has a tattoo of his Mount Rushmore of Country, which features George Strait, George Jones, Keith Whitley, and Merle Haggard. However, with Koe’s question being posed as all genres, his answer contains a wild card. The answers start as one might expect from the East Texas native, but when he reaches the third face he would feature, Stroub is left surprised.
“Kurt Cobain, George Strait, Frank Sinatra… Big Sinatra guy. Big Sinatra guy.”
Stroub pauses, wanting Wetzel to elaborate on this choice. She asks Koe if he grew up listening to Frank Sinatra and if that sparked his love for the jazz singer.
“No. Absolutely not. My family’s from East Texas. I don’t think they’ve ever heard a Sinatra song. I’ll be honest with you.
But for some reason, I don’t know, I got into him in like late high school, and for some reason, I’ve just always loved Sinatra. It’s like my comfort music, I guess, which is pretty strange. Kind of feels weird saying it now.”
Given Wetzel is a true rock and roller, one might be shocked by this answer. And even though he says it’s random for him, I must admit this is not the most shocking information.
If you have ever taken a deep dive into the Wetzel family, then there is a chance that you’ve seen a video of his mother belting out Patsy Cline. While that is classic country, it still has the same “old-timey” feel as Sinatra’s music. Koe might not have grown up listening to Sinatra, but given how his mother sings, he grew up in a household with good musical taste.
Back to Mount Rushmore, though… After the slight side tangent explaining his love for Sinatra, Wetzel rounds out his answer.
“So, Kurt Cobain, George Strait, Frank Sinatra… Eminem.”
Talk about variety. This diverse list of artists highlights how Koe can mold his sound to fit anything from authentic country to rock and explains his ability to belt out vocals or take more of a talking-style approach to their delivery at times.
While this is a solid Mount Rushmore, I can only think about getting a Frank Sinatra cover from Koe Wetzel. I fear it would be incredible.
Koe Wetzel, if you see this, give the people what they want and fire up a little “Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words).”
@wranglerwestern We asked @Koe Wetzel what his music Mount Rushmore would be. Do you disagree with any of his picks? Head to our YouTube page to check out pir exclusive backstage interview with Koe. 🤘#countrymusic #koewetzel #country #western ♬ original sound – wranglerwestern
While you’re here, check out the full podcast episode.
