“Something inside me really wanted to record a Keith Gattis song” – Koe Wetzel talks about his cover of “Reconsider” on “9 Lives”

In honor of the late, great Keith Gattis.

Koe Wetzel is preparing to release a new album called 9 lives next month, which will actually include two covers, a cover of “Depression & Obsession” by XXXTENTACION and a cover of “Reconsider” by Keith Gattis.

The song was written and recorded by Keith Gattis and appeared on his Big City Blues album. Charlie Robison also recorded it and covered “Reconsider” on his 2009 Beautiful day Album.

You may know Gattis primarily as a songwriter, as he has written songs for King George Strait himself, but also for the likes of Willie Nelson, Randy Travis, Kid Rock, Miranda Lambert, Randy Houser, Kenny Chesney and Wade Bowen, to name a few.

He sad died last year at the age of 52 and reportedly died as a result of a tractor accident. He sadly leaves behind his wife Penny and their two young children.

And while Koe doesn’t do a lot of cover songs, so it’s kind of surprising that he included two of them on the 12-song tracklist, I spoke to him last week about his aforementioned album (more on that to come) and he explained that he was inspired to do the cover after becoming very interested in Gattis’ music following his death last year:

“I had a buddy, I didn’t really know Keith Gattis that well, but I knew a lot of the songs he had written. And then one night we were at the ranch and one of my buddies was playing it, and I’m a huge Charlie Robison fan.

His death, the news of Keith Gattis’ death and the realization that Charlie had cut a lot of Keith Gattis’ songs – there was just something special about everything that was happening at that time.”

He explained that after hearing Gattis’ original version of “Reconsider,” it made him “angry” that he never got to see him in concert or truly appreciate his music while he was alive. Koe says that something “deep inside” just told him to cut the song.

Of course, like most artists who cover a song by someone they respect and admire, Koe simply hopes he “did it justice”:

“When I heard ‘Reconsider,’ I just thought, holy shit, you know, and it kind of annoyed me that I never saw Keith Gattis when he was alive and really got into him when he was around. So I just felt like, I don’t know, something inside me really wanted to record a Keith Gattis song.

“‘Reconsider’ was the song that, for some reason, deep down, I felt like I had to cut. So I was really excited to do that and just hope we do it justice.”

He also said that he was really looking forward to playing this song live for the fans. 9 lives Drops, and I think it definitely fits into Koe’s catalog of the sadder, introspective lyrics where he laments the end of a relationship that he does so well.

For this reason, I believe it will quickly become a fan favorite. You can listen to the teaser for Koe’s cover here:

And of course the original by Keith Gattis:

Koe has released four songs from the record so far, including “9 Lives (Black Cat),” “Damn Near Normal,” “Sweet Dreams,” and “High Road” featuring Jessie Murph.

9 lives was mainly directed by Gabe Simon (Noah Kahans Stock season) alongside a number of proven collaborators such as Josh Serrato, Carrie K and Sam Harris (X-Ambassador).

“Country Road”

9 lives Tracklist:

“Continuation” sketch
“9 Lives (Black Cat)” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Gabe Simon)
“Casamigos” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Sam Harris, Ben Burgess, Gabe Simon)
“Damn Near Normal” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Gabe Simon, Carrie Karpinen, Sam Harris)
“Leigh” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Gabe Simon)
“Twister” (Ropyr Wetzel, Steve Rusch, Ben Burgess, Josh Serrato)
“High Road” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Gabe Simon, Carrie Karpinen)
“Rethinking” (Charles John Brocco, Keith Quenton Gattis)
“Hatchet” (Gabe Simon, Mike Coogan)
“Sweet Dreams” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Josh Serrato, Gabe Simon, Sam Harris)
“Runnin’ Low” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Sam Harris, Gabe Simon, Ben Burgess)
“Bar Song” (Blake “Shy” Carter, Breyan Isaac, Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, Dave Gibson)
“The Last Outlaw Living” (Josh Serrato, Ben Burgess, Sam Harris)