Country singer Tucker Wetmore on his debut album, his love for music, and not being famous

Ellen O'Donoghue

Tucker Wetmore, a 25-year-old rising country music star from Washington, grew up playing sports.

He started playing music, piano specifically, at 11 years of age, and sat for hours playing every single day.

“Music and piano were my first love, and to this point, it’s pretty much been my only love,” he laughs, speaking to BreakingNews.ie just days after he played at Country2Country in Belfast, ahead of his first international headline show which sold out at the Electric Ballroom in London.

When he started high school, Wetmore “kind of put music down” to focus on sports.

“I thought football was my path, I wanted to play football, and ended up going to college in Montana to play football and I loved it, it was fun, I was having a blast,” he says.

But at the end of his first year there, he got injured, and his football career ended.

“I’ve blown out my left knee twice, and then I broke my right leg and ankle once, and I was like, ‘That’s probably a sign to hang up the cleats’,” he says.

“So I moved back home, not knowing what I was going to do, and music found me again, thankfully”.

He started writing songs by himself, “perfecting my craft again,” Wetmore says, and around a year later, moved to Nashville, Tennessee, the hometown of country music, from his small hometown in Washington that has “like 2,500 people when everybody’s home”.

Five years later, he is just weeks away from the release of his debut album, has 7 million monthly streams on Spotify, and his songs Wind Up Missin’ You and Wine Into Whiskey have over 253 million and 114 million streams respectively on the platform.

Since the release of his debut EP Waves on a Sunset in October, his catalogue has ammassed more than 780 million total global streams to date and has earned him spots on Artist to Watch lists from Spotify, Billboard, VEVO, MusicRow and more.

“If I’m being honest, I thought I wanted football, but if it ain’t music, I ain’t got nothing. My Plan B is Plan A, and then Plan C is to figure it out,” Wetmore says.

If he hadn’t given up football when he did, his life would be a lot different.

“I’d probably still be getting injured, which isn’t good,” Wetmore jokes, before getting more serious.

“I think, [breaking] my leg for the third time was the best thing that ever happened to me, and it was a sign from God that I needed, you know, him kind of saying ‘Hey, this football stuff is cool, but you need to focus on music, you need to pursue music’, and I listened, and now I’m here.”

He fell in love with older bands, and older musicians, such as Billy Joel, Hall & Oates, The Eagles, and Jerry Lee Lewis for example, Wetmore says, sitting for hours on end learning their songs.

“That’s pretty much where my love for music stemmed from”.

“But you know, Jerry Lee Lewis, that’s, in my opinion, Jerry Lee Lewis is as country as it gets, that’s boogie woogie, that’s honky tonk, that’s that whole style,” he laughs.

“I just love country, and I always have”.

In terms of his first Irish appearance, singing in Belfast at Country2Country at the SSE Arena, Wetmore says, “it was sick”.

“I loved every other place, but I think Ireland has to take the cake, I love the culture out there, you guys got the best beer, the crowd was great, it was just all around a good time”.

“Pretty much 20 minutes after we left, I was like, I want to go back, I’m going back 100 per cent,” Wetmore promises, “sooner rather than later hopefully”.

Although nothing is set in stone yet, Wetmore is hoping to come back in 2026 for a headline gig.

“I got an old soul, I like older music, especially with the album, I’m dropping my debut album on April 25th and I’m really intricating like the older sound, whether it’s older feeling drum builds, or like tones of guitar or like even the mics we use, whatever it is, I’m implementing all these older kind of styles to like a new age style,” he explains.

“That’s what I did on this, on my debut record, and I think it’s cool, I just love, nothing beats an old tune with a Guinness and hanging out with your boys, you know?"

Regardless of his music garnering millions of streams monthly, Wetmore wouldn’t consider himself famous, “by any means”.

“It’s crazy to think that not even a year ago I had my first touring experience, it was less than a year ago, April, I was on the Kameron Marlowe tour and that was my first experience touring ever, and that was less than a year ago, now I’m playing a sold-out tour and I’m going to be direct support for Thomas Rhett this year,” he says.

“It’s definitely a change, I never thought I’d be to the point where I’m at, and I’m just thankful for it. I’m very blessed to be able to do what I do. I wake up every day and I’m happy”.

Wetmore, although having no Irish dates on his current tour, is releasing his debut 19-song album What Not To on April 25th, and is touring throughout the year, “always go, go, go,” as he says himself.

Towards the end of the year, he plans to take a break though, but next year, “is going to be balls to the wall, rollin’, touring, we’re probably still going to be doing over 120 dates next year, and it’s going to be awesome. I’m excited.”