Koe Wetzel<\/a><\/strong> appeared at Country Radio Seminar (CRS)<\/a><\/em> 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee, a three-day industry-only event, held at the Omni from March 18\u201320. While there, he spoke with the media and participated in the popular Cycle of a Son<\/em>g series as part of the Digital Music Summit.<\/p>\n During that panel, he discussed his collaboration with Jessie Murph on \u201cHigh Road.\u201d However, before the series, he sat down with Music Mayhem<\/em><\/a><\/em> for an exclusive one-on-one interview, which touched on his friendship with Ella Langley<\/a>, upcoming music, and more.<\/p>\n Langley, who sings on Wetzel\u2019s 2023 song \u201cThat\u2019s Why We Fight, was also in attendance at CRS, where she was named one of six artists in the \u201cClass of 2026\u201d New Faces of Country Music<\/a>, alongside Chase Matthew, Kelsey Hart, Meghan Patrick, John Morgan, and Josh Ross. Her career has skyrocketed in recent months, fueled by her smash hit \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas<\/a>,\u201d which she co-wrote with Miranda Lambert<\/a>, Luke Dick, and Joybeth Taylor.<\/p>\n As of late March of 2026, \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d has spent four weeks at No. 1, breaking a decade-long record for the longest-running No. 1 country hit by a solo female artist, a record previously held by Taylor Swift. In addition, Langley has found success with songs like \u201cYou Look Like You Love Me\u201d (feat. Riley Green), her breakthrough hit, \u201cWeren\u2019t for the Wind.\u201d Adding even more momentum, Langley just earned her first-ever iHeartRadio Music Award for Best New Country Artist.<\/p>\n Speaking with Music Mayhem<\/em> about their friendship and Langley\u2019s success, Wetzel had nothing but praise. \u201cIt\u2019s awesome. Ella and I have been friends for a long time, so everything that she\u2019s getting and has got going on right now, she deserves 100%,\u201d Wetzel gushed. \u201cI couldn\u2019t think of a better person to have everything happening for her. So I\u2019m glad everybody now is starting to see what I\u2019ve seen for her and known for a long time. So yeah, shout out to Ella. She\u2019s such a badass.\u201d<\/p>\n Wetzel, a native of Pittsburg, Texas, is experiencing major milestones of his own. Just this month, he performed for a crowd of roughly 60,000 fans at RODEOHOUSTON<\/a> at NRG Stadium during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, marking a significant moment in his career. And that isn\u2019t lost on him.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, it was kind of a surreal moment being in that moment and getting to play in front of all those people and having so many fans come out and support. It was just a really, really cool moment, and I just didn\u2019t try to think about it too much, just enjoying it while I was there,\u201d Wetzel said of the milestone concert. \u201cIt was great. Being a Texas artist and coming up in Texas and playing all the rodeos, coming up and getting to do it there at the world\u2019s biggest rodeo in Houston was great. It\u2019s kind of like a welcome home. We\u2019ve been away from Texas for a while, getting out and playing, but it was a blessing. It was great. We had a great time, so it was a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Just weeks earlier, on February 28, 2026, Wetzel returned to his hometown of Pittsburg, Texas, for \u201cKoe Wetzel Day<\/a>,\u201d a celebration in his honor. Surrounded by family, including his parents, Gary Dale and Julie Wetzel, his girlfriend Bailey Fisher, their daughter Woods Madison, and close friends, Wetzel was recognized by the community where he grew up.<\/p>\n Parker McCollum<\/a> also joined the celebration, and the two artists performed their hit song \u201cLove<\/a>\u201d together. Koe Wetzel was presented with a key to the city and honored with a new mural during the festivities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been trying to top \u2018Love,\u2019 and we haven\u2019t done it yet,\u201d Wetzel said, hinting at another potential collaboration with McCollum. \u201cAnd it\u2019s crazy to even say that, but we try not to go in there and have that mindset, but we\u2019re getting there. I think we\u2019ve got a write coming up in a couple of weeks. So yeah, I think we can look forward to something like that on the horizon.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked if there\u2019s anything folks don\u2019t know about him, he addressed public perception, saying, \u201cWell, all my friends and family, everybody that knows me knows who I am and what kind of person I am. So don\u2019t let social media or anything else kind of push you off on who I am or what I am. I\u2019ve always kind of been, you get as much respect as you give, and just learn who somebody is before you make the first opinion or whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n As for new music, Wetzel confirmed that fans won\u2019t have to wait much longer.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah. We\u2019ve been done with this new record for almost a year now, so we\u2019ll be dropping it this summer,\u201d he said. \u201cGot a lot more music in the vault as well. So 2026 is going to be fun. We\u2019ve got the tour coming up this summer that\u2019ll run through the end of the year. A lot of new music and I don\u2019t know, we just got a lot of stuff coming, so excited about a lot of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Wetzel has already given fans a preview of his forthcoming new album with the release of \u201cTime Goes On<\/a>.\u201d The upcoming project will follow his 2024 album, 9 Lives<\/em>, which featured his five-week No. 1 hit \u201cHigh Road\u201d with Jessie Murph, which was also 2025\u2019s most-played song at U.S. Country Radio.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, it\u2019s just kind of a flow from 9 Live<\/em>s in a sense. With 9 Lives<\/em>, it was kind of a turnover, a new lead for us, kind of calming everything down from the rock side,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo this is kind of being added onto that, but it\u2019s going to kind of capture everything that we\u2019ve done from the beginning. I think it\u2019s got a little something for everybody.\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to his music career, Wetzel has been embracing life as a new dad after welcoming his daughter last May.<\/p>\n \u201cShe hasn\u2019t reacted to the music yet because we haven\u2019t played a lot of it for her yet, but she loves it when daddy sings,\u201d Wetzel shared. \u201cBut yeah, it\u2019s been great. The transformation over the past year and everything, and obviously, with my mental health and my health now and every aspect of my life, it\u2019s kind of pushing over into the music as well. And it\u2019s been great. She\u2019s the love of my life. She\u2019s changed me for the better. I get to see her tonight. I haven\u2019t seen her in a couple of days, so I can\u2019t wait to squeeze her when I get home.\u201d<\/p>\n Later this May, Wetzel will hit the road on The Night Champion World Tour<\/a>, a 45-city headlining run featuring support from Shane Smith & The Saints, Ole 60, Wyatt Flores, Corey Kent, Wade Bowen, Bayker Blankenship, Kolby Cooper, and Logan Jahnke on select dates.<\/p>\n For more information on Koe Wetzel\u2019s new album and upcoming tour dates, visit his official website at koewetzelmusic.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Koe](\"https:\/\/musicmayhemmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Koe-Wetzel-Receives-Key-to-City-of-Pittsburg-Photo-Courtesy-of-Michael-Herrick.jpg\")
![\"Koe](\"https:\/\/musicmayhemmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Koe-Wetzel-Photo-Courtesy-of-John-Park.jpg\")
![\"YouTube](\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/9G6Ufr0m0Ro\/hqdefault.jpg\"\/)
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n