How Tucker Wetmore’s ‘Who Told You That’ Came From a Last Minute ‘Hail Mary’ Demo
Categoria: Musica
Billboard's Makin' Tracks column looks at the writing and recording behind Tucker Wetmore's "Who Told You That."
Por Billboard | 13/08/2026
Tucker Wetmore earned his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay with the fast-paced, Western-tinged “Brunette,” which topped out on the list dated May 30. Even before that song had run its course, Wetmore already had a follow-up ready to go, a similarly fast-paced number with a different sound that he debuted in concert on April 28 in London. “Who Told You That” revolves around a wicked guitar riff, creating extra tension for band member Carver Partin when he played it live for the first time. “I don’t think he moved from his one spot the entire song,” Wetmore says with a laugh. “He was pretty locked in.” “Who Told You That” is somewhat daring for country music. The tempo, the spiky rhythm guitar and the register in which Wetmore’s vocal is cast puts it in Maroon 5 “Moves Like Jagger” territory, but with a smoky, Carlos Santana tone on the song’s speedy riff, instead of the whistle that inhabits “Jagger.” “That’s actually pretty accurate,” Wetmore says. “It’s not like a song of the year,” he adds. “It’s not like we’re changing the game with it. We’re just having fun.” That’s an extension of the atmosphere in which “Who Told You That” was written on March 4. “We were all feeling it that day,” says Jordan M. Schmidt (“Kid Myself,” “Watermelon Moonshine”), who hosted the writing session at his home. “It was a dance party with four guys in my studio.” The original schedule called for a three-way write with Michael Tyler (“Somewhere on a Beach,” “Girl Dad”) and Hunter Phelps (“wait in the truck,” “Bar None”). But Ashley Gorley (“Don’t We,” “Woman”) had a hole in his calendar, and Tape Room Music chief creative officer/president Alicia Pruitt got him booked on that session. Tyler and Phelps arrived early, and they had Wetmore in their sights. “We knew he was cutting the next day, so it was kind of the goal, you know, to get one last-minute,” Phelps says. “We always try that, and it rarely ever happens. I’ve never had it happen the next day like that.” Tyler had pitched the title unsuccessfully at a Russell Dickerson writing session, though his angle was different. He envisioned it as a song about a woman who doesn’t believe she’s attractive. “Who Told You That” poses a reasonable question. When Gorley arrived, he offered an alternate plot: A guy tries to persuade a woman that he’s a romantic — not the player she thinks. “Who Told You That” plays a different way in that context. “The hit-song way,” Tyler enthuses. Gorley kicked into short, choppy chords on the keyboard, and Schmidt picked up on the groove, building a track around a stabbing electric guitar playing mostly complex chords: some sevenths, maybe some ninths. “It’s actually half minor [chords], but it doesn’t sound dark or depressing,” Schmidt says. “It just sounds fun.” Gorley grabbed a microphone and freestyled a chorus melody over the track, mostly using short phrases that mimicked the length of the hook. He sang the phrase “who told you that” in the three spots where that