Koe Wetzel at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds -- July 31
Wednesday, July 31, 8 p.m.
Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, 2815 West Locust Street, Davenport IA
On July 31, this year's Mississippi Valley Fair brings with it grandstand performances by a pair of Billboard-charting talents in Koe Wetzel and Priscilla Block, the former an acclaimed country rocker whose top-10 hits include this year's "Sweet Dreams" and "High Road" (featuring Jessie Murph), and the latter of whose country-pop song "Just About Over You" went viral on TikTok, reaching Nashville music executives who signed her to Mercury Nashville.
Wetzel was born in Pittsburg, Texas, with one of his names being a reference to outlaw country singer/songwriter David Allan Coe. His mother was a touring country singer who would routinely bring the young Koe along on gigs, and the young man wound up performing on stage for the first time at age six. Later, Wetzel was a linebacker at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, where he decided to pursue a career as a musician instead. He formed the outfit Koe Wetzel & Konvicts and self-released an EP and one full-length album, his "rowdy" music and lyrics becoming popular among college students and young adults. Noise Complaint, released in 2016, was considered to be his breakout album, and beginning with that recording, the full name of the band was dropped, though Wetzel still performs with a bassist, one drummer, and two guitarists.
His subsequent recordings including 2019's Harold Saul High, 2020's Sellout, and 2022's Hell Paso, Wetzel's music is usually described as fusing genres, especially rock and country, while he has been rumored to personally refer to his blend of music as "Hillbilly Punk-Rock." In his youth, Wetzel was exposed to country, hip-hop, rap, and grunge including the music of Nirvana, and in an an interview for American Songwriter, Wetzel described his album Harold Saul High as "...90s country meets early 2000s punk rock with early ’90s grunge and hip-hop music in the background."
Priscilla Block began her country-music career by co-writing songs with others, and also played several popular Nashville bars including the Listening Room Cafe and Whiskey Jam. In 2017, she released her debut EP Different Route, and between 2016 and 2020, Block released several songs focused around self-love and acceptance. Penned by Block herself, these tracks included "Thick Thighs" and "PMS," with many of these recordings appearing on TikTok. Block began releasing music on the app during the COVID-19 pandemic, telling Sounds Like Nashville, "I started posting original music and those videos started doing really, really well. It was interesting because I would post cover videos and then I would post my own videos and my own original music was kind of what was working."
After running into an ex-lover in 2020, Block composed the song "Just About Over You," which she posted herself singing the song live on TikTok. The video went viral, a fan of hers from California created a GoFundMe campaign to get it recorded, and a mere three weeks after its composition, Block cut the song in a studio. "Just About Over You" then went to number one on the iTunes music chart and topped other streaming platforms. Mercury Nashville eventually issued "Just About Over You" shortly after her 2020 signing, and months later, Block filmed a music video for the song that peaked at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a top-20 hit single on the Billboard country charts.
Koe Wetzel and Priscilla Block perform their Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds set at 8 p.m. on July 31 with an opening set by Angela Meyer, and $105-130 MVF Fun Cards are required for admittance into any and all Grandstand concerts this summer. For more information on the concert and the Mississippi Valley Fair, call (563)326-5338 and visit MVFair.com.
