Surrounded by flames and amps cranked all the way up, Koe Wetzel leaves a trail of sold-out venues, screaming fans, and empty booze bottles in his wake wherever he goes. Proudly hailing from Northeast Texas, he has quietly asserted himself as the ultimate country rockstar, bulldozing the boundaries between Nashville songcraft, rowdy Texas spirit, and rainswept Seattle hard rock. After moving 1 million units under the radar and popping off as one of the hottest live performers in the game, he welcomes everyone to the party on his 2022 full-length offering, Hell Paso [Columbia Records].
“I did what I wanted to do,” he exclaims. “This was straight up me. Nobody told me to do this record. We pulled in every genre we were feeling at the time. We spent the last ten years trying to make this sound —Hell Paso is it.”
Never compromising, Koe might just be the last real rebel out there. The Gold-selling singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer shakes up the status quo, shatters expectations, and sticks to his guns with a sound steeped in country storytelling, yet spiked with grunge grit. He’s unapologetic, undeniable, and unlike anyone else you’ve ever heard. Without anything to prove and nothing to lose, he continues to kick ass on his own terms. Breaking through with a series of independent releases and tallying over 1.3 billion streams to date, he has impressively notched three RIAA Gold-certified singles, including “February 28, 2016,” “Something To Talk About,” and “Drunk Driving.” The latter adorned his 2020 Columbia Records debut, Sellout, which arrived to widespread critical acclaim from American Songwriter, Billboard, The Boot, Rolling Stone, and more. At the same time, he has quietly emerged as a powerhouse performer. He graced Pollstar’s “Top Worldwide Tours” back-to-back in 2020 and 2021, moving hundreds of thousands of tickets in the process. In addition to headlining his own Koe Wetzel’s Incredible Music Festival, he has packed arenas, amphitheaters, and ballparks across North America, attracting a devout audience.
