How Koe Wetzel & Jessie Murph’s ‘High Road’ Became a Country Airplay Smash

Country radio is a notoriously tough nut to crack: Song campaigns can often last a year or more, and the journey to the top can be arduous — only to maybe taste a week or two at the summit. So when a song sticks atop the chart for a month or more, it’s worth noting.

That’s what’s happened with Koe Wetzel and Jessie Murph’s “High Road,” which this week spends its fifth week atop the Country Airplay chart — making it one of just six songs by artists with their first Country Airplay entries to spend five or more weeks atop the tally, and the first time two debutantes shared the honor. That’s a significant achievement on its own for RECORDS Nashville, the country imprint of Barry Weiss’ Columbia Records-affiliated label. But “High Road” reached the top immediately after a one-week No. 1 for George Birge with “Cowboy Songs,” another hit by the same label, giving RECORDS Nashville a run of six straight weeks atop the Country Airplay chart — and earning executive vp of promotion and commercial strategy Josh Easler the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.

Here, Easler talks about the success of “High Road,” the difficulty of running two chart-topping radio campaigns simultaneously and how the Country Airplay format has evolved during the course of his quarter-century in the music business. “It’s been wild to watch the format diversify in sounds over the last 25 years, and especially in the last decade,” Easler says. “The radio side of things has changed so much it’s hard to even know where to start there.”

This week, Koe Wetzel and Jessie Murph’s “High Road” spent its fifth consecutive week at No. 1 on Country Airplay. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?

The first key decision that led to “High Road” being a five-week No. 1 goes back to the summer when we agreed on a partnership with Columbia Records to be the promotion arm for this song at country radio. We are grateful that Ron Perry, Peter Gray and the leadership team at Columbia came together with Barry Weiss and trusted us to take this song to country radio. Another key decision was the timing for the record to peak. We knew that if we could get into No. 1 ahead of the holidays, we would likely have a multiweek run at the top due to how few playlist changes happen over the holidays. It worked out perfectly.

The run for “High Road” came immediately after another RECORDS Nashville release, George Birge’s “Cowboy Songs,” spent a week atop the chart, giving RECORDS six straight weeks at No. 1. How significant of an achievement is that for the label?

Having the songs go back-to-back was a very significant achievement for the label, especially because it was the first Billboard No. 1 for all of the artists. It’s certainly the greatest airplay achievement for RECORDS Nashville so far. No. 1 airplay singles are difficult, so having back-to-back No. 1s is really special.

How difficult is it to run concurrent radio campaigns at country radio for different artists like that?

Great question. Part of what made concurrent singles doable was how different the artists and songs are. Although George Birge and Koe Wetzel are both from Texas, they are very different, both sonically and where they are in their careers. Koe was already a headliner when this project came out. His footprint in the musical landscape was already significant, and this No. 1 is another chapter in a robust story. George, on the other hand, is emerging as one of the most consistent hitmakers at country radio after the success of “Mind On You” in 2023 and “Cowboy Songs” in 2024.

Overall, only six songs by artists with their first Country Airplay entry have spent five or more weeks at the top. Why is that such a difficult feat, and what goes into keeping a song atop that chart for so long?

Getting to No. 1 is difficult; staying there for five weeks is very difficult and only happens if the song is a true bonafide smash hit record. Power rotations at radio are sacred. If a record spends multiple weeks at No. 1 it means the stations are leaving it in power for a long time, and that only happens for big hit records. What makes staying there so difficult is how hot the country format is right now. There were multiple monster records last year in our format. We were fortunate to have the timing we did, and it’s a testament to country radio supporting one of the biggest hits of the year.

How has the Country Airplay format changed over the course of your career?

I started professionally in the country format in the late ‘90s. I’m a child of the ‘80s and grew up on the music. I loved it, but it was very “one lane” at the time. It’s been wild to watch the format diversify in sounds over the last 25 years, and especially in the last decade. The radio side of things has changed so much it’s hard to even know where to start there. The biggest change in my opinion is how we have fewer and fewer gatekeepers with each passing year. Radio, understandably, has consolidated and programmers oversee multiple radio stations. 

Over the past few years, the country genre has seemed to explode in popularity in pop culture and globally. What do you think is behind that, and do you see it continuing?

It’s so exciting to see what is happening to country music right now. The range of sounds and artistry is phenomenal. I do think this trend will continue for a few reasons. One is country radio is becoming more diverse. It’s great to see country radio leaning into more and more music that is coming at them from all kinds of different places. It’s no secret that country consumers are historically late adopters to newer trends, and the consumer behavior is catching up to modern music discovery outside of radio as well. 

The country consumer is getting younger as well. If you haven’t seen a good club show recently from an emerging act, I highly recommend it. We are about to release an album by a newcomer, Ty Myers (The Select on Jan. 24), and it’s going to explode. He’s already selling out significant venues and the audience is very young — it’s incredible. Lastly, the quality of music being made in the core country lane and “fringe” lanes is excellent. There is so much talent out there right now, and with a plethora of ways to discover music, I don’t see this trend slowing down anytime soon. The circle will remain unbroken.

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