If there is one thing to know about “Wine Into Whiskey” singer Tucker Wetmore, he is the next big thing when it comes to the country music scene.
Beginning as a football star — becoming a state champion on four separate occasions and garnering the most receiving touchdowns in his home state of Washington — Tucker always had a keen interest in the music industry as well, dishing about his “glory days” in an exclusive interview with Music Mayhem. “Sports is fun, and it’s all I’ve ever done. It’s all I ever knew,” he prefaced, prior to sharing how he fell into the music scene. “I started playing piano when I was 11… I kind of sat down at piano one day, and didn’t really get up for years, you know, but throughout that whole time, since I was five, I had a baseball bat in my hand or a mitt on it or a football.”
He also shared how it prepared him for his musical success that was to come in 2024. “It taught me a lot. It truly taught me how to, you know, work with a team… Obviously it looks like a lot of the time that the spotlight is on me, but it’s not, you know, I got people like my publicists and my managers and my publishers, and all that stuff that kind of really helped bring the team aspect into it and tell me how to work for something, truly. I feel like if you, aren’t working for something, you’re working for nothing at all.”
All of this tireless work paid off with the release of “Wine Into Whiskey,” his debut single that hit all music streaming platforms on February 23 and almost instantaneously surpassed stars like Justin Timberlake, Selena Gomez, BTS, and more on the charts.
Finding Success On TikTok
“Wine Into Whiskey” took off like wildfire on TikTok, garnering a great deal of success prior to hitting music streaming platforms last month. Sharing a teaser of the brand-new tune on December 4, Wetmore amassed 5.1M views, 533.9k likes, and 12.8k comments, ultimately prompting him to push forward with the release.
When asked about his social media stardom, the budding country star admitted that “it’s helped tremendously,” before delving into the details. “The streams are great and everything’s just going, you know, the way God planned it, but I’m blessed to be on the recipient end of it, and it’s just great.”
He also dished about his social media success in regard to “Wine Into Whiskey,” specifically. “We didn’t think it was going to be what it is, you know, but we knew we had something special on our hands, especially like the day we wrote the song. I remember we sat there for a second after we wrote it, you know, put the last word on the paper and gave it a listen. We were like, ‘Dang, this is something. This is big,’ and I’ve posted on socials and, you know, a couple of people thought the same thing, so I’m just very blessed.”
Viral Hit, “Wine Into Whiskey”
As for what the brand-new tune actually entails, “Wine Into Whiskey” brings a relative R&B vibe to the country music scene — something that is reminiscent of stars like Kane Brown, Morgan Wallen, Russell Dickerson, and more — which Wetmore says stems from his various influences: R&B, reggae, heavy metal, and beyond.
He then proceeded to dive into the meaning behind the oh-so successful track, as well as how it came to be, which was heavily inspired by the way men have treated his four sisters in the past, “acknowledging self-sabotage and the struggle between a man’s nature and a partner’s genuine efforts to salvage the relationship.”
The Story Behind “Wine Into Whiskey”
Telling the story from the man’s perspective, this unique angle makes “Wine Into Whiskey” truly a track like no other.
“I walked in the room with an idea and I wrote it with my buddies, Jacob Hackworth and Justin Ebach… We were just like throwing ideas around for like 45 minutes to an hour and nothing was sticking, and then Ebach pipes up, and he goes, ‘What about ‘Wine Into Whiskey” and like just throws it out there, and we’re like, ‘Yes dude, you could have said that an hour ago,’” he explained regarding the origin of his debut single. “Then we started writing it without really having, you know, a pathway for it, but then as we were writing it, it kind of unfolded into this like guy reflection type thing, and I was like, ‘Well I can’t really personally relate to this, but I grew up with four sisters, you know, and I’ve seen like what they’ve gone through and with like different relationships, you know, throughout the years and stuff like that.’”
“I felt like if the guy kind of knew what he was doing, would he really do it? It’s just one of those things of just like bringing light to guys just not being men,” he concluded passionately.
While this is evident throughout its 2:46 runtime, the chorus of “Wine Into Whiskey” — “I took a good thing and I turned it into goodbye/ Took the fire in her eyes, put it on ice/ Turned that angel’s world upside down/ Dipped her wings in Tennessee brown/ I turned her callin’ me into callin’ me a mistake/ Turned her heart of gold into a heartbreak/ If I was her, I’d damn sure hate me/ I turned her love into pain and her wine into whiskey” — exemplifies this idea to a T.
Forthcoming release, “Wind Up Missin’ You”
Given the almost instantaneous success of “Wine Into Whiskey,” Wetmore already has another song on the way, titled “Wind Up Missin’ You,” that shows off his twangy vocals — teasing it via TikTok once again, amassing 5.2M views, 586.6k likes, and 5990 comments — which will hit all music streaming platforms on March 29. Upon the announcement of its release, fans seriously could not contain their excitement, taking to the comment section of his Instagram post to share their enthusiasm.
One fan wrote, “Gonna have this song on repeat on the 29th!!” Another admitted, “‘Wine Into Whiskey’ is nice, but this is what I’ve been waiting for.”
A third fan gushed, “FINALLY! I’ve been waiting anxiously.”
In our exclusive interview, the Washington native shared the meaning behind this soon-to-be hit song as well. “That’s another one of those ones where we wrote it, and we were like, ‘Dang, this is really freaking cool.’ The meaning behind it is, I don’t know, I feel like everyone’s kind of had that like kind of young love type feeling, and we kind of wanted to paint that picture in, you know, melodies and words the best we could, and I feel like we did it pretty well, in my opinion.”
Is a project in the works?
With all of these hot new tracks on the horizon, country music lovers cannot help but wonder whether or not “Wine Into Whiskey” and “Wind Up Missin’ You” are a tease into a forthcoming album or EP from Wetmore.
Having a primary goal of “just being happy” — admitting that “the way life should be is being happy and chasing God” — he admitted that a project is not at the forefront of his mind at the moment, but that does not mean that it will never come to fruition.
“We’re just focusing on these two singles right now, but I will say that more music is definitely coming out within the next couple of months or so. We were in talks about a whole album after tour possibly, but you know, things are changing every day, and we can’t really pinpoint what we’re going to be doing a week from now, let alone six months,” the fast rising country star teased.
Supporting Kameron Marlowe on his Strangers Tour
Speaking of tour, Wetmore was given the opportunity to support Kameron Marlowe on his Strangers Tour — which will consist of a dozen shows in states like Texas, Oklahoma, Washington, and more throughout the months of April and May — prior to releasing a single song, something that he is “so excited” to be a part of this spring.
“That’s another just truly blessing thing,” he dished, prior to sharing the story of when he booked this oh-so special gig. “I remember when we got the text. We were sitting at breakfast. It was me and my team… My manager looks at her phone, and she goes, ‘Oh!’ and then she turns the phone around, and I go, ‘Oh! That’s weird.’” My immediate reaction was ‘Absolutely,’ you know, so it was kind of just an easy yes for me, just ’cause I love Kameron’s music, and I’m buddies with a couple of people on his team.
“I think it’s just working out perfectly, and I’m super excited to be on the road,” he concluded, and fans seriously cannot contain their excitement as well.
One fan shared in his Instagram comment section, “Holy happiness, this makes me so proud of my BOY!!! 🥺 LFG!!”
“Congratulations man! You were always bound for greatness in whatever you chose to do. Hard work pays off. Proud of you,” another gushed. A third spilled, “That’s What I’m talking about! Congratulations, my man 👊🏼 #GAMETIME.”
For updates regarding the release of “Wind Up Missin’ You” and the rest of his brand-new tunes — as well as his shows supporting Kameron Marlowe — country music lovers can connect with Tucker Wetmore via social media.
