Koe Wetzel is an American singer-songwriter known for his fusion of country and grunge. Growing up in Texas, the now 32-year-old grew up touring alongside his mother who was a country singer. The Gold and Platinum RIAA Wetzel has gained popularity for his relatable lyrics and energetic performances that have made a name for him in the music industry. Wetzel’s music explores themes of love, heartbreak, and the ups and downs of life.
He first garnered attention with his breakout album, Noise Complaint, released in 2016. His following album releases: Harold Saul High, Sellout, Hell Paso, and the July 2024 release 9 Lives all charted in the top 100 in the U.S. Wetzel is currently in the midst of his Damn Near Normal Tour that has nearly 50 stops in countries like the U.S., the UK, and Germany. The tour began at the end of July and will continue until November 7th in Germany.
Before hitting the stage at Bourbon & Beyond, Koe Wetzel sat down with us for a laid-back chat. From his love of bourbon to favorite childhood memories, Wetzel gave us an inside look at his personality beyond the music. He also shared the inspiration behind his new song “Casamigos” and what makes the Damn Near Normal Tour such a standout experience for him.
What’s been a highlight of your Damn Near Normal Tour?
The highlight of the tour has been being here at Bourbon & Beyond. It’s right in the middle of our Damn Near Normal Tour, so I love it.
I see you have a Boston shirt on, how was performing there?
Boston was great. I love Boston. It was a good time. It was my first time in Fenway. This is the only clean shirt I had today, so I’m wearing it.
Do you have a favorite bourbon?
I do have a favorite bourbon. I’m a big Blanton’s guy. I love Angel’s Envy. A little Pappy Van Winkle. I’m all over the place. I like a good old fashioned. I’m a sucker for an old fashioned. I do like it on the rocks too.
I know you love football. What’s the perfect tailgate for you?
I do love my football. My perfect tailgate is getting done with hunting in the morning and show up to the tailgate, make some poppers, bust open a keg, and then we’ll just sit there and watch three different TV screens. All football, all day, just drinking beer and not even going to the game. We just sit down on the tailgate.
Do you have a favorite football team?
Right now it’s the Longhorns. I’m gonna ride with them this year.
What’s your craziest travel story?
So, there’s this one time we were supposed to have a meeting in New York with my record label. We were in West Virginia and the storms were really bad. We couldn’t get to New York. It was like 2 or 3 days that we couldn’t travel. So, we decided to hop on a train not knowing that the train was going to be like an 11.5 hour ride.
We got pretty drunk on that train ride, and I don’t even know where we were. I think we ended up in Philadelphia or somewhere and then had to take an Uber from Philadelphia all the way into New York.
By the time we got there, they were just like, ‘You know what? Y’all just go back to the hotel, get some sleep. We don’t even want to talk to you anymore.’ That was a rough, full day of traveling for me.
What are your pack must travel items?
A Toiletry bag, my AirPods, cell phone. I can do pretty much everything off of that.
Any favorite truck stop snacks?
I’m a sucker for pistachios. I love my pistachios. Love beef jerky. If they’re selling liquor or beer, usually a 24 ounce Busch Light to get me through.
Do you have a favorite tattoo?
Probably this pine tree on my forearm for my buddy that passed away. We were going to have a race to see who would get it first. He never got to get it so after he passed away, I went in and got it. That’s probably one of my favorites right now.
Do you have any fond travel memories growing up?
When I was younger we went down to San Antonio SeaWorld. F*ck SeaWorld, by the way. But as a kid, I thought it was really cool to go to SeaWorld. Then we went to Fiesta Texas, which is kind of like a Six Flags. It was my first actual road trip. I think I was like 4 or 5 and we had a great time. The whole family went. It was a lot of fun.
Anybody you’re excited to see here at Bourbon & Beyond?
I was excited to see Sting, but I think he’s playing at the same time we are. So that kind of sucked. We got Matchbox 20 coming up. I’m really excited to see Matchbox.
Have you been to Louisville before?
We have. I think this is our fourth or fifth time to play in Louisville. The fans are always great. Whenever we come out It’s a lot of fun. I think a lot of people will be there. We love Louisville. We love Kentucky. It’s good to be back.
I love your new song “Casamigos.” What is the story behind that?
It was one of the first songs we had written for the record. My guitar player Serrato and I came into the session pretty drunk from the night before. I think they were in El Paso and we came in from South Dakota. The writers had that little tune going on, “Mary Jane took my license and Casamigos took my friend.” Whenever I was really drunk, drinking at Casamigos all the time I just kind of went back on a past relationship that I had. The song came pretty quick, and then after it came, it changed 6 or 7 times. Then we finally got it right and it is what it is now. It’s one of my favorites and we’re glad to have it out now.
What’s your perfect date night?
Going to a very nice steak and seafood restaurant. Coming back to the house, opening up a bottle of bourbon and watching 2 or 3 movies. I’m a big movie guy.
Do you have a favorite movie?
I’ve got a couple. The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio is probably one of my favorite ones. Very underrated film.