He’s not necessarily trying to shed the rowdy rebel rocker label he’s earned through a half-dozen albums and countless live performances, but country music rule-breaker Koe Wetzel is ready to change the pace.
“I’m getting older. I’m not the 20-year-old that’s going out and partying every night and acting crazy,” says the 32-year-old Texan. “I’ve got a wider view. It’s not that I’ve changed or turned a 180, it’s just stepping back and looking at the bigger picture. It’s gotten a lot bigger than any of us expected.”
Indeed, wearing out the road and giving it all has brought him and his band more of the same. Wetzel released 9 Lives last month and then launched the Damn Near Normal tour in his home state on July 27, which he’ll bring to the Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas this week. So he has even more musical ammunition to add to six gold records andHell Paso—not necessarily in tone or style, but by continuing to chart new pathways.2.6 billion streams, but the new material strongly follows 2022’s acclaimed
“I just wanted to slow things down a little bit,” Wetzel says. “Hell Paso was more of the rock side of us than we’ve done before ... but I don’t know if I’d call this new record country. It’s kind of all over the place. But I wanted to slow it down and be a bit more honest and open about my life and what people might not know about me, compared to stories they’ve heard or things they’ve seen on social media.”
Wetzel says the mindset remains the same when it’s time to write and record: “You don’t go into it with the idea to make a certain type of music or conform to what people are asking for. It’s writing what we like to write, making music and how it comes out is how it comes out.”
Whatever direction he’s taking in the studio, rest assured Wetzel is amping things up when he takes the stage—he doesn’t know any other way. Collaborating with a variety of producers on 9 Lives has enriched and balanced the album’s sound, but fans should be excited about catching energetic new tracks like “Bar Song” and “Last Outlaw Alive” in the live space, as well as a curious cover of the late XXXTentacion’s “Depression and Obsession.”
Is Vegas a great place to play for a notorious partier? Better see for yourself.
“We usually take a little time to stick around and hit the tables afterward,” Wetzel says. “We all like to gamble a lot, and it used to be, let’s get done with the show and get to the tables as quick as possible.”
You’ve officially been invited to play with the band after the concert, if you can find them. “Absolutely, the more the merrier,” he says. “We’ve had this thing the last couple times where as soon as some fans come to the table, we started to hit on roulette. But if I start losing, we have to find a new table quick.”
KOE WETZEL With Kolby Cooper, Kat Hasty. August 10, 7 p.m., $45-$500. Theater at Virgin, axs.com.
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