The duo we absolutely needed.
Today, Koe Wetzel released a surprise song with Stephen Wilson Jr. called “Hard Way,” ahead of Koe’s big Red Rocks show as a closer for his The Night Champion World Tour:
“Been in the woods all week.. Red Rocks is sold out tonight, new song with Stephen Wilson out now, and The Night Champion Deluxe is here. See y’all tonight!”
It makes a ton of sense for these two to be working together, and Koe says he’s been a fan of Stephen for a while now, adding that he wasn’t quite ready to finish up The Night Champion era without putting one last song out:
“It’s been a hell of a ride with this record, and we weren’t quite done yet. Before the sun comes up on ‘The Night Champion,’ we’ve got one more song left to play.
I’ve been a fan of Stephen’s for a while now, and we got to play a bunch of shows together last year, so I’m fired up to have a song together now, too.”
Written by Koe along with Gabe Simon, Nikki Lane, Carrie K and Josh Serrato, it finds the two rockers bonding over their affinity for the wild side and doing things their own way:
“He told me son take it easy
So I drove a little faster
Bought a one way ticket
And a blonde telecaster
Didn’t know where I was headed
I was nowhere bound
Racing towards the sun
Ain’t gonna let it go down
’Cause if you ain’t rolling doubles
Better listen to what I say
If you wanna go to heaven
There’s gonna be some hell to pay
Some people gotta learn it hard way”
If you’re unfamiliar with Stephen, he released his stellar debut Bon Aqua EP in 2023, which featured the likes of “American Gothic” and “Year to Be Young 1994.” In June of 2023, Wilson Jr. made himself known in a big way just six months later with his mammoth, 22-track debut album, Søn of Dad.
He has an incredibly unique sound you may hear him refer to as “Death Cab for Country,” and he has noted a range of artists like Willie Nelson, Kurt Cobain, and Bruce Springsteen as his heroes, and you can definitely hear that in his music. There is no one in country music who compares to his sound, and he’s easily one of the best in mainstream country right now in my humble opinion. Weaving together so many touches from different genres is so hard to do, and he does it seamlessly and it feels so authentic and true to who he is as an artist.
Koe is of course known for his genre-blending work and grunge and rock influences, so from a musical standpoint, they make a ton of sense and I love that they teamed up for this duet. It’s a solid song with a cool sound, and I’d love to hear them do another one eventually because I feel like they could lean even harder into that rock and grunge sound that they both do so well within the country space.
I think fans of both of these guys are going to dig it, and you can listen to “Hard Way” here:
“Hard Way”
The Night Champion (Deluxe) Tracklist:
1. Sinner
2. Hard Way feat. Stephen Wilson Jr.
3. Circus
4. Jaded feat. Ella Langley
5. Hurts Like You
6. Bad Decisions
7. Time Goes On
8. Meet You There
9. Dollar and a Bottle
10. Magnet
11. The Man
12. Ronnie Ray
13. Nowhere Fast
14. Rollin and Smokin
15. I’ll Lock Up
16. Surrounded
17. When I Was
This December, Koe will hit the road for his festive 2026 edition of their Naughty or Nice Tour with fellow country star Parker McCollum:
The Naughty or Nice Tour Dates:
December 2 — Helotes, TX — Floore’s Country Store
December 3 — Houston, TX — 713 Music Hall
December 4 — Corpus Christi, TX — Concrete Street Amphitheater
December 5 — Round Rock, TX — Round Rock Amp
December 10 — Fort Worth, TX — Billy Bob’s Texas
