Kalama, Washington-born Tucker Wetmore is an artist that has been rapidly on the rise the past 12 months. Initially setting his sights on a career in football, Wetmore’s dreams were cut short when he sustained an injury. Turning his attention to music, he moved to Nashville in 2020 and he hasn’t looked back. With debut album ‘What Not To’ expected to be released in April, Wetmore has picked up plenty of attention thanks to his 2024 EP ‘Waves on a Sunset’ and his singles ‘Wine into Whiskey’ and debut number one single, ‘Wind Up Missin’ You.'
He was also featured on the soundtrack to last year’s summer blockbuster ‘Twisters’ with Conner Smith on the raucous ‘Steal My Thunder’ but it was at the recent C2C festival in London where we caught up with him to talk all about his career to date.
Welcome to the UK Tucker, it's great to have you here. How did you find last night's Songwriters Show at the Indigo?
I love those writer's rounds. It was great to meet the other artists too, a lot of them I met for the first time last night, with the exception of Wyatt (Flores), who I've known for a while. I thought the evening turned out really well.
Do you prefer full band shows over writer's rounds? What would your preference be?
I prefer the full band shows to be honest. The big stage, the energy and the crowds. I get more nervous for the smaller, more intimate shows if I'm being honest. Tonight's show is inside the main arena here in London and I'm a little nervous about it but not as much as I was for last night's much smaller show! Weird, right?
Congratulations on the success of ‘Wind Up Missin' You.' Your debut number one. No-one can ever take that away from you now. What does having a number one mean to you in practical terms?
It means the world to me. It's a huge milestone that I've been working towards ever since I started all this. Ever since I moved to Nashville I've wanted a number one hit on Country radio. It doesn't mean the job is done though – we still gotta lot of work to do! Hopefully it will be the first of many.
Does it put a little pressure on your next release?
A little bit, yeah. It does put pressure on for the next radio song. You've got to follow up a huge hit and all you want to do is achieve the same thing again.You strive for greatness and to do the best you can every single day. The next radio song is ‘3,2,1' – that went to radio last Monday and was the most number one added song of the week with over 70 adds so it's off to a good start but the job ain't done, you know?
Tell me about the inspirations behind ‘3,2,1' and why it is your next radio song.
I first heard the song when a bunch of my buddies sent it to me. We were putting the album that comes next month together and trying to work out which songs would go where across the release. I was banging my head against the wall trying to figure out every little aspect and then I heard the song and it made me feel so good, I was, like, ‘perfect, put it on hold' right away!
Couple of days later I began to listen to the song more and more and it really began to speak to me. At the time I was in that position of letting a woman go and a relationship come to an end and I was battling myself in terms of not knowing whether it was the right idea or not and the song really resonated with me. We cut it and I thought it sounded so good that making it the next song to radio was an obvious decision.
You played ‘Whiskey Again' at the Songwriters show for the first time last night – what a lovely song that was and it's going to be the final track on the album. I'm getting a feel from you that you are actually really interested in the sequencing of the album.
Oh, 100%. I can't tell you why ‘Whiskey Again' is the final track on the album yet because that would give away some secrets about the structure of the album that we can't reveal right now. What I will say is that everything about this album is super-purposeful – I've been looking forward to having the opportunity to do something like this for years and I wanted it be be a release that wasn't just a collection of songs thrown together in a pile – I wanted it to have a purpose, I'm an album-based listener, I have been my entire life. It's the most beautiful thing in the world so the sequencing is deliberate and every single song is where it's meant to be.
You are bringing across some of the songs from ‘Waves on a Sunset' but not all so what was the thinking behind the ones that made it and the ones that got left behind?
There was thought behind that too in that some of those songs didn't quite fit the narrative of what we are trying to achieve. That's all I can say without giving spoilers away!
You taught yourself to play piano, inspired by the music of Jerry Lee Lewis, at age 11. What other artists have influenced your sound and style?
Yes sir! I'm kind of a mutt when it comes to music. When it comes to piano there's a lot of Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis, Elton John, Billy Joel and Queen, stuff like that. That's what I would be jamming on the piano at age 11 and 12 years old. I love playing the piano today, it's still my favourite part of the show and the whole world vanishes when I get to do it.
I'm a huge Eagles fan, Jim Croce too. Fleetwood Mac. All those older bands – I naturally found those bands at a very early age, which is quite unusual really. I also grew up listening to a lot of Reggae because I come from a Samoan family where it was played all the time. All summer was just Reggae and BBQ's!! (laughing)
I also listened to a lot of metal in the form of Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold, Three Doors Down and then I grew up in the church as well so there was a lot of Gospel music thrown into the mix as well!! I'm a mutt and that might be my favourite part of me. I love music and I love that I can pull from all these different aspects to make the music I want to make.
You were an all-star athlete back in the day and then your career got curtailed by an injury. What have you learned from that setback and those setbacks that you've taken into your music career?
It's funny that you mention that because I just took a nap earlier and had a dream that I was playing football again! It doesn't happen a lot – maybe this big arena is getting to my subconscious or something! (laughing)
The setback was a lot, man. I dropped out of college and I'd thought that football was going to be my path and I was doing alright at it before the rug got pulled out from underneath me with the injury. When I first dropped out I was super lost and then music saved me to the point where I realised that it had always been my first love and where I needed to be.
Which artists have you played with so far have taught you the most in terms of looking after the crew, the fans and the other artists on the bill?
Absolutely. Luke Bryan is one of those people, he's a character, man, a good dude who loves to have a great time but at the same time the ship that he runs is super-tight and everyone that works for him is a great person. I learned a lot from touring with him.
Jason Aldean is another dude I really respect. I've bounced a few ideas off him and we text back and forth once in a while – he's been so super-helpful to me, a real ‘anything-you-need' kind of guy. He's been there and done everything right, he knows what's what.
I'm going out on tour with Thomas Rhett across the summer which I'm really looking forward to. I haven't spent a lot of time with him but we text back and forth every once in a while, he checks in to see how I am. He's such a good dude. We're on a huge tour with him and I'm looking forward to being a sponge out on the road with him and learning all that I can about juggling everything that he juggles.
‘What Not To' is coming out in April. It's 19 tracks and you've already scored a number one hit so what do you want this album to achieve for you?
A couple more number ones wouldn't hurt – that would put a smile on way face! (laughing) I guess the main thing I want to achieve is that I want people to get to know me. Everything on the album is so true and I dig deep on so many of these songs – I'm telling my truth about all of these things that are probably public and I want to dig into who I am as a person and the way that I was raised. I love music because it makes me feel something and it helps me in my everyday life, it's my therapy and if I can be that for just one person, that's my goal. And some more number ones. (laughing)
Check out Tucker Wetmore's upcoming album ‘What Not To' right here.
