Koe Wetzel. Photo: Motion Theory Media

Koe Wetzel took the stage in front of a sold-out Ascend Amphitheater crowd last night (Oct. 6) for a 75-minute explosive, rock star-style set as part of his “Damn Near Normal Tour.”

Ben Burgess started the night with a set full of songs off his new album Hollywood Cowboy, set for an independent release this Friday (Oct. 11). Getting the crowd to “dance to some country music,” the album preview included “Well Worth The Ride,” “Well Whiskey,” “Bull Rider” and “The Willie.” Burgess also used his impressive vocals to cover Johnny Paycheck’s “Slide Off Your Satin Sheets,” before closing his time with the album’s title track.

Up next on the night was Tanner Usrey, who burst onto stage with “Blackberry Wine,” which is featured on the Twisters soundtrack. Keeping the momentum going, he dove into fan favorites “Take Me Home,” “Come Back Down,” “With You” and “Give It Some Time.” Usrey then brought out his friend Kinsley to help him perform “Beautiful Lies,” a duet with Ella Langley off his Crossing Lines album, where cell phone lights illuminated the venue.

“Enough of that sad stuff let’s get rowdy,” Usrey exclaimed as he dove back into his set with a cover of Killer Faces’ “Stay With Me,” before closing out with thrilling performances of “Destiny,” The Georgia Satellites’ “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” and “Guns Drugs And Allergy Pills.”

Koe Wetzel. Photo: Motion Theory Media

As the lights went out and the crowd was brought to their feet, it was time for the main event. Before hitting the stage, Wetzel played a clip of Vanderbilt University’s goal-post-carrying celebration after beating Alabama over the weekend, getting the crowd even more hyped up. Sporting his ball cap and guitar, Wetzel came rocking out on stage with “Twister,” instantly setting the mood for the night. After claiming the night as “Sunday funday,” Wetzel turned up the heat with “Fuss & Fight,” initiating smoke and fire from his stage production, before going into “April Showers.”

“I didn’t know how this record would turn out with how honest it was,” Wetzel stated in reference to his 9 Lives album that dropped this past July. “With the help of Gabe Simon, Amy Allen, Carrie Karpinen, Ben Burgess, Steve Rush… and all the Nashville legends out here and some L.A. sprinkled in, we did it though. It all just made sense.” With the crowd dialed in ready to hear the new album live, he played the title track before throwing it back to “Forever.”

Wetzel kept the nostalgia going with “Love,” slowing down the set with a spotlight shining down on him. The crowd swooned as the singer hit all the right notes on the tune he co-wrote with Parker McCollum, giving the fellow Texan a shoutout at the end. Then it was time to dial the party back up with fan-favorites “Good Die Young,” “Kuntry & Western” and “Ragweed.”

Koe Wetzel. Photo: Motion Theory Media

Already proving his top-notch-entertainer status with more show to go, Wetzel led the crowd in a group cheers before diving into “Casamigos,” The crowd sand loudly along to “Sweet Dreams,” and Wetzel continued to thrill the amphitheater with “Drunk Driving,” “February 28, 2016” and tour namesake “Damn Near Normal.”

Putting everyone in a rock star state of mind, the night was nearing an end but the party was not slowing down. From the opening chords of the next track, fans were instantly engaged for “Creeps.”

“We wrote this song in the RCA studios right down the road from here,” Wetzel said. “We all wanted a girl’s point of view on the song, so we asked Jessie Murph to come on and she absolutely killed it. Jessie, wherever you are, we love you.” Through screams and excitement, Wetzel gave a show-stopping performance of the RIAA Platinum-certified single “High Road.” To close out the night, Bailey Zimmerman ran out on stage to serve some tequila to the band, before Wetzel closed out with “Something To Talk About.”

Wetzel’s “Damn Near Normal Tour” will continue this weekend in his home state of Texas with shows in Abilene and Lubbock before finishing the weekend run with a sold-out show at Red Rocks Amphitheater.

Jackson Dean. Photo: Sean Hagwell

Rising star Jackson Dean has been bringing music lovers together by breaking the mold since he burst onto the scene, silencing the same venues in which he has rattled the rafters with the vibrant pictures of life painted by his rock-country blend, resilient demeanor and alluringly-adventurous spirit.

In 2022, the Big Machine Records artist turned heads with his debut project, Greenbroke, which features history-making No. 1 “Don’t Come Lookin'” and top 10, Canadian Gold-certified single “Fearless (The Echo),” and kept them pivoted with the release of his Live At The Ryman collection last year. Since then, Dean and his band have continued to captivate crowds across the globe while playing multiple headlining shows, supporting numerous tours and making various festival appearances, amassing more fans with every mile they travel. He recently unveiled his sophomore album, On The Back of My Dreams. Comprised of 13 tracks, all co-penned by Dean, the body of work seeks to score snapshots of the human experience, conceptually intensifying as it progresses. Despite being tinged with detail, the illustrations are malleable to listeners’ varying experiences.

The Odenton, Maryland native began cultivating his writing style at the age of 14. After graduating high school early, he signed publishing deal with Little Louder Music and made the move to Nashville. Once Dean began working with producer and frequent collaborator Luke Dick, among others, he found himself experimenting with phrasing and different musical elements. When in writing rooms today, he often becomes “the interpreter”—absorbing the information, organizing and translating it to his dialect.

Photo: Courtesy of Big Machine Records

“I came down here to give it my all and make music that’s distinct and unique,” Dean tells MusicRow. “To find, get and hone in on the sounds that I love is hard to do. I’m fortunate to have someone who not only understands me, but is willing to go to the places that I want to go to get to where I want to be.”

Distinct is exactly how each On The Back Of My Dreams tune can be described. “They can all stand on their own,” he notes. “With how drastically different they are, I didn’t walk into recording with a specific idea on how to thread the needle through them.”

The project opens with a powerful light from the hopeful “Big Blue Sky,” which gradually starts to fade following current radio single “Heavens To Betsy” and grows dimmer as the title’s muse “Jane” is introduced.

“When I started my career, I wanted feel every emotion [as much I could],” Dean explains. “These songs are operating at the extreme ends of what they are and embody a characteristic that not only lives within me, but within us all.”

He penned “Big Blue Sky” with drummer Sean Mercer, guitarist Brandon Aksteter and bassist Rich Kolm on the way to a gig at Blind Horse Saloon, where its inaugural live performance took place later that night. Inspired by Dean’s late dog and shotgun-rider for 14 years, Carl, the ode depicts a librated pup running over a hill toward the sun. Mercer has also traversed a decade’s worth of miles with Dean and served as his first producer on early works developed in Baltimore. The drummer then brought Kolm into the mix, and Dean connected with guitarist Aksteter at the bar built by his great, great grandfather where he first started playing live. The Maryland-grown group has since built a familial bond that has remained unbreakable throughout the past few years.

“There’s something that happens when we get together,” Dean shares. Brandon is an incredible guitar player. Nobody can do what Rich does on a bass, and Sean is just meat-and-potatoes solid. I’m extremely lucky.”

Alongside multi-instrumentalist Trevor Shipley, they have struck deep chords performing the heartbreakingly-beautiful fan favorite “Heavens To Betsy.” A prime example of excellent storytelling by Dean, Benjy Davis and Driver Williams, the track is narrated from the perspective of a regret-filled man sitting on the outskirts of heaven who is trying to communicate with his daughter via a CB radio. Dean was unsure if the live-show staple would ever see the recoding booth until he saw how much it resonated with the masses it mesmerized.

“I’ve watched tears fall to this song, and it’s crazy to see how much love it’s gotten and how much people, in and outside of the industry, believe in it,” he says “It’s songs of this subject matter that make you look in the mirror and think about what you want.”

Performing live is “one of the biggest parts” of Dean’s life. He, Mercer, Aksteter, Kolm and Shipley strive to give it their all every time they’re under the lights. “There’s no drug like it. There’s nothing on this planet that will give that same feeling.”

One favorite number that Dean is psyched to play in person is “Jane,” from which the title On The Back Of My Dreams is derived. Concocted alongside Dick and Ryan Tyndell, the “witchy little nursery rhyme” is one of the project’s more abstract works and gives him the opportunity to hit notes he doesn’t get the chance to in others. He oozes with excitement for the “ritualistic” atmosphere featuring the entire band’s vocals that its live rendition enrobes the audience in, and details the way the line “keeping me awake on the back of my dreams” stayed swirling in his mind.

“It made me think of that blissful moment when you first open your eyes in the morning before reality hits,” Dean describes. “It was when we started getting all of the mixes back that I found subtle footprints of ‘Jane’ throughout the entire project. Whether it’s the musicality, the way it’s played or the language used, there’s flares of the song’s surrealness in the sonic elements of the rest.”

The collection comes to a close with its oldest track, “Another Century,” which seeks to summarize the soul-stirring journey the listener has been taken on with flashes of memories while the artist accepts that he will not live to see another century. The “pretty little poem,” written with Brian Koppelman and Jon Sherwood, intricately describes moments that Dean has seen and lived himself.

“You cannot say all that is in your heart in one go. I’ve tried and racked my brain on how to do it, and there’s just no way,” he states. “‘Another Century’ is a part of my piece being said—the most I can say in one go.”

In addition to showcasing his growth as an artist and the individual traits of the tracks, he hopes that On The Back Of My Dreams reminds people that we are connected in the feelings and situations we encounter.

“We are meant to feel all of this together,” Dean says. “In my mind, the purpose of all music is to know that we are not alone. The fours words ‘all in this together’ sum up everything that I’ve wanted say.”

He and his band of brothers plan to reiterate that message on the road as they continue supporting Lainey Wilson on her “Country’s Cool Again Tour,” which will make its way to Lubbock, Texas next week ahead of Dean’s Grand Ole Opry performance on Oct. 16.

On The Back Of My Dreams Track Listing:
1. “Big Blue Sky” (Jackson Dean, Brandon Aksteter, Rich Kolm, Sean Mercer)
2. “Duct Tape Heart” (Jackson Dean, Casey Beathard, Luke Dick)
3. “Talkin’ To Backroads” (Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Ryan Tyndell)
4. “Daddy Raised” (Jackson Dean, Tucker Beathard, Bryan Simpson, Ryan Tyndell)
5. “Long Goodbye” (Jackson Dean, RL Burnside, Trent Dabbs, Luke Dick, Jeff Hyde)
6. “Real Real” (Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Josh Osborne)
7. “Heavens To Betsy” (Jackson Dean, Benjy Davis, Driver Williams)
8. “Train” (Jackson Dean, Brandon Aksteter, Luke Dick, Rich Kolm, Sean Mercer)
9. “Free” (Jackson Dean, Blake Chaffin, Luke Dick)
10. “Sweet Appalachia” (Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Ryan Tyndell)
11. “Jane” (Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Ryan Tyndell)
12. “Heaven” (Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Laura Veltz)
13. “Another Century” (Jackson Dean, Brian Koppelman, Jon Sherwood)