Koe is coming to town

Texas native Koe Wetzel is proving there are no need for rules in music. The “genre bending” singer/songwriter is returning to Beaumont, one of his favorite towns, for one big party during his latest North American Tour that includes Ford Arena on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 7:30 p.m.

“Beaumont has always shown a lot of love,” said Wetzel. “They are some die-hard Koe Wetzel fans in Beaumont. The atmosphere is great, plus they have been some rowdy crowds!”

Wetzel recalls a night on Crockett Street in downtown when his band performed at Dixie Dance Hall.

“Oh, man. That was a really fun night,” he said. “I think there were a lot of fights, but it was all good. Beaumont is a good time.”

No longer is Wetzel performing in saloons. Now, it’s big arenas that call his name. His popularity continues to climb, especially after the recent success of his latest record, “Hell Paso” on Columbia Records (more on that in a moment).

“It’s everybody’s dream to play at the highest level,” he said. “I tell the boys in the band all the time, ‘We are half blessed and half lucky.’ It’s really amazing what we get to do.”

Wetzel has been slinging bangers for years now, which include song titles like “February 28, 2016,” “Something to Talk About,” “Song I Can Drink Too,” “Love” and “Kuntry & Wistern.”

As Wetzel continued his relentless touring attack, along came the pandemic. But when many musicians struggled with what to do, Wetzel found it easy to be creative.

“We were on the road for so long, we had an itch to scratch to do a new record so we basically quarantined in the studio,” he said. “Wake up, eat and put together music.”

“Hell Paso” is record that may be the best on Wetzel’s résumé. “We went out to the small town of Tornillo near El Paso,” explained Wetzel. “It was a pecan farm so there were no distractions. It was really easy to come up with a record like that.”

Tracks like “Creeps,” “April Showers,” “Money Spent” and “Cabo,” which is our personal favorite on the record, give off vibes of Staind, Everclear and Theory of a Deadman. A very good thing, in our opinion.

Then comes the track, “So Low.” The lyrics are deep and dark. “I’m so low it’s f***** awesome. I love the sadness and the pain. I’m so low it’s f***** awesome. Makes me glad there ain’t a cure for insane.”

When asked if anyone broke his heart, he laughed. “No, haha,” he said. “I actually wrote that song in 2012. We’ve been trying to sneak that song into a record and the producer Taylor Kimball did an amazing job with it.”

As the album continues to dig in, the listener is surprised with a title called, “Cheers,” which isn’t a song, but a personal promo by Wetzel. It starts with the opening of a bottle and pouring an adult beverage into a glass. He proceeds with three cheers – those who are enjoying the record, those who hate the record, and those who say Wetzel is a disgrace to country music.

“I think I was drinking Mezcal, maybe 40 Rabbits,” he said. “You know, everyone wants to throw us in a genre and I am not big on genres. Music is music. I got tired of people putting us into a genre, so I was a little drunk, so I cut a promo.

“I’m most proud of this record because it really came out of left field. It was something we have never done before. It was real and raw. It’s exactly how we perused it in the studio. Everyone on the record killed it.”

With multiple successful albums to his name, Wetzel has a problem. A good problem that is – creating a nightly setlist.

“We have been rehearsing these new songs during soundcheck,” he said. “We are like 90 minutes per show and we keep adding songs, so by the end of the tour we may have a freakin’ three-hour show,” he laughed.

Call it what you want, but remember one of Wetzel’s rules – music is music. If you haven’t already, see why Koe has made Pollstar’s “Top Worldwide Tours” in consecutive years in 2020-21.

Also performing on this tour is one of Wetzel’s good friends, Bones Owens.

Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com or the Ford Park box office at 5115 Interstate 10 South.

-Chad Cooper, Entertainment Editor