9 Lives<\/a>,\u201d which spun off a chart-topping single in \u201cHigh Road\u201d; it\u2019s also his first LP since the birth last year of his daughter, Woods. After the show \u2014 in which he was accompanied by his producer Gabe Simon, who\u2019s also known for his work with Noah Kahan \u2014 I spoke with Wetzel about the album\u2019s inspirations and about the food-court staple that rhymes with his last name.<\/p>\nMy favorite song, you didn\u2019t play it: \u201cI\u2019ll Lock Up.\u201d That\u2019s a song where your vocal is mournful, but you\u2019re resigned \u2014 it\u2019s an emotionally sophisticated song. How\u2019d you write it?<\/b>
We kind of came into it to be as realistic as possible. When people go through stuff like that \u2014 through breakups, whatever it is \u2014 no matter what it is, I\u2019m probably still gonna take you back at the end of the day. And I think kind of being in that situation, kind of going back on past relationships, we just took a lot of past experiences from different folks and made it what it was. The scornful sadness from it, that might have came from a couple bottles of wine that I had before I got in the vocal booth.<\/p>\n
You write about toxic relationships, but now you appear to be in a stable relationship with the mother of your child. Have you lost the juice?<\/b>
I don\u2019t think so \u2014 I think it\u2019s always gonna be there. Those are the easiest songs to write. It\u2019s really hard for me to write a love song. And who knows, maybe this is the turning of the tide. I\u2019ve got almost 12 years of toxic relationship songs, so maybe these next 10 years is the love, happy-go-lucky songs.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve talked about cleaning up your act a little bit: drinking less, eating better, working out. Was there an animating head-on-the-floor moment?<\/b>
I think whenever I found out that I was gonna be a dad, that was obviously a moment for me. I\u2019d started cleaning up before she got here. And then when she got here, it was like, \u201cAll right, you got to get your s\u2014 together.\u201d Not to say that I\u2019m completely reformed \u2014 I still have my nights.<\/p>\n
Back in your dark days, best bar in L.A.?<\/b>
I never really went out a whole lot.<\/p>\n
Drinking in the hotel room, huh? Dark.<\/b>
That\u2019s where all the songs come from.<\/p>\n
You have two bar-restaurants, Koe Wetzel\u2019s Riot Room \u2014 one in Fort Worth, one in Houston. I want to have a salad tonight. Should I have the blackened chicken Caesar or the grilled chicken Cobb?<\/b>
Grilled chicken Cobb, for sure.<\/p>\n
OK, great.<\/b>
Do we serve those at the restaurant?<\/p>\n
Biggest mess you\u2019ve ever gotten into as a restaurateur?<\/b>
I don\u2019t know, honestly. I\u2019m more on the party side of things, so they don\u2019t ask me about, \u201cHey, we\u2019re gonna make this tweak to the menu \u2014 what do you think about it?\u201d It\u2019s more like, \u201cWhat are the bottle girls wearing tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n
One more food-service-related question: You\u2019re at the mall, you want a pretzel. Auntie Anne\u2019s or Wetzel\u2019s Pretzels?<\/b>
Wetzel\u2019s Pretzels all day, man. Go get you some \u2014 I get a little royalty there.<\/p>\n
According to Mediabase, your song \u201cHigh Road\u201d was the most-played song on country radio in 2025. In what month did you start changing the channel when it came on?<\/b>
I started changing it before it even came out. We finally got the new record out, and I\u2019m sick and tired of it, because I\u2019ve been listening to it for a year and a half now. But that\u2019s pretty much how it was with \u201cHigh Road.\u201d So grateful for all the success \u2014 it\u2019s really cool that people have jived with it and listened to it the way they have. But whenever I hear it now, I kind of turn a deaf ear to it, if that\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n
Your friend Morgan Wallen had a viral moment recently where he <\/b>tipped over a piano<\/b><\/a>. What instrument have you smashed?<\/b>
Quite a few. Depending how much Jack Daniel\u2019s I drank onstage, I was definitely smashing the bottle \u2014 glass everywhere. I destroyed the drums. There was actually a shirt we had that says \u201cKoe Destroys Everything.\u201d My bass player and guitar players, they know that whenever I get that stare, it\u2019s kind of like: Protect your s\u2014, or I\u2019m gonna come smash it.<\/p>\nBy my count, you say \u201cf\u2014\u201d nine times on this record. Is that your favorite four-letter word?<\/b>
It\u2019s a pretty good one, man. Only nine times on the record?<\/p>\n
Seems low to you.<\/b>
I\u2019m a big Tarantino and Scorsese fan, so I don\u2019t know. I think it\u2019s just such a fun word.<\/p>\n
Last one: Your current radio single is called \u201cHurts Like You.\u201d I\u2019m gonna give you three songs that have \u201churt\u201d in the title, and you have to pick your favorite.<\/b>
OK.<\/p>\n
\u201cHurt\u201d by Nine Inch Nails or Johnny Cash. \u201cHurts So Good\u201d by John Mellencamp. \u201cEverybody Hurts\u201d by R.E.M.<\/b>
\u201cHurt,\u201d Johnny Cash.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sorry, that\u2019s not right.<\/b>
It\u2019s not? What is it? Is there a right answer?<\/p>\n
Your favorite song is John Coug, \u201cHurts So Good.\u201d<\/b>
OK. [Sings<\/i>] \u201cHurts so good\u2026\u201d Is that my favorite song?<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/b>
All right. Let\u2019s go, Coug.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n