Three, two, one … “Brunette”!
When Tucker Wetmore’s frenetic “Brunette” started shaking up listeners on social media and streaming platforms last summer, his team got anxious. He already had “3, 2, 1” at radio, and they temporarily considered whether they’d picked the wrong single.
“We had that conversation of pulling ‘3, 2, 1’ down and then going with ‘Brunette,’” Wetmore recalls. “But I was like, ‘Honestly, “3, 2, 1” is still testing great. It’s doing all the things that it should. Let’s see if “Brunette” rides it out.’ And it ended up doing it.”
Indeed, “3, 2, 1” peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart dated Dec. 13, 2025, and Back Blocks/Mercury Nashville released “Brunette” to country radio via PlayMPE on Dec. 8. Thus, one could argue that “3, 2, 1” served as a countdown to “Brunette.”
Appropriately, “Brunette” was one of the songs that Wetmore performed on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, sung from a Las Vegas stage on ABC after the countdown kicked off 2026. He was part of a Vegas lineup that included Jordan Davis, Mariah Carey, Charlie Puth, Jessie Murph and 50 Cent.
“That was a good time,” Wetmore says. “I didn’t really know how big of a deal it was until I showed up.”
“Brunette” is quickly becoming a big deal on its own. He performed it during the halftime show at the NFC Championship Game in Seattle on Jan. 25, and it’s already rocketed to No. 24 on the Country Airplay list dated Feb. 7, behind an emphatic hook, a deceptive storyline and a speedy tempo of 134 beats per minute.
“There aren’t many songs out there right now that are that tempo,” Wetmore says. “I like how different that makes it.”
“Different” was the goal when songwriter-producer Chris LaCorte hosted the songwriting session that spawned “Brunette” at his Nashville office on Jan. 23, 2024, with Josh Miller, Blake Pendergrass and Chase McGrill. That foursome also penned Morgan Wallen’s current single, “20 Cigarettes.” “When we sit down to write, man, it’s big swings only,” McGill says. “We’re never setting out to write a normal song.”
Miller had the title, “Brunette,” and an idea that a dark-haired woman might actually be the solution for the protagonist, who’s had a string of bad luck dating blondes. McGill grabbed one of LaCorte’s many guitars – in this case, a 1961 Gibson LG-2 – and dove into a fast-paced, rolling guitar riff that operates like a series of sparks every time the chord changes.
“Whoever played it on the master probably used a pick, but on the demo, I would have been doing banjo-style rolls on guitar,” McGill says. “My only way to gain speed is I use three fingers instead of one pick.”
The verses apply long melodic notes, developed by Miller, to counter that busy guitar bed, beginning with the opening “Lord kno-o-o-o-ows I got a type.” After four lines, the singer concedes that blondes “put me through hell,” before launching into the punchy chorus: “I need a brown-eyed, 5’-5”, north side of the Mason Dixon line…” The rest of that chorus is a verbal blur until it reaches its insistent conclusion: “I need to find me a brunette.”
As clear as the writers were about the plot, it likely requires multiple listens for most fans, since the speed leaves much of the verses and the middle of that chorus difficult to discern. Given that the most obvious lyrics are the beginning and end of the chorus, it comes off like an anthem for northern gals with brown locks, when it’s really an acknowledgement of the guy’s obsession with Southern blondes.
“I think the song was unintentionally deceptive,” LaCorte notes.
At the end of the first chorus, McGill broke the rolling pattern with a series of block chords – it feels a bit like a progressive-rock diversion before the bluegrass sparks begin again. “We all might need just a break,” McGill says. “The guitar player might need a break. The listener might need a break after that chorus. We’ve got 32nd notes rolling on guitar, we’ve got quick melodies – like, let’s let it sink in and then go back.”
Verse two continues the protagonist’s inner turmoil, and at the end of the second chorus, they extended the stanza by anticipating the next woman, who can’t possibly be blonde if he wants a successful relationship: “You ruined that for me when you left.” After a third chorus, they brought the whole thing to an abrupt end right near the two-minute mark. They didn’t even consider making it longer.
“At the time, there were so many pop radio hits that were like a minute and 55 seconds, two minutes and 15 seconds,” LaCorte recalls. “A lot of them don’t even come around to a third chorus. I think some of it was a trend, but I kind of love the psychological play on that, where it leaves you wanting more and you want to play it again.”
LaCorte produced a simple demo, dominated by the vocal and the guitar lick, with a faint bass and four-on-the-floor kick drum. It was loose enough that it could have led to a bluegrass recording or even something with a Lumineers feel. Though LaCorte emerged as Wetmore’s producer, he didn’t pitch “Brunette.” Instead, one of the song’s publishers sent it to Back Blocks CEO/founder Rakiyah Marshall, who forwarded it among about a dozen songs for Wetmore to audition. He had the music going through headphones as he climbed aboard a flight from the tarmac in a small Oklahoma airport. He was immediately taken by “Brunette,” envisioning a Western flair.
“It’s kind of like a sharpshooter in the middle of a dusty street kind of vibe,” he says. “That’s what that lick gives me.”
LaCorte wasn’t sure what the musicians would do with it during the tracking session at Nashville’s Sound Stage, but Wetmore’s Western idea resonated with them, and between the breakneck pace and the left-of-center sound, they played with abandon. “It kind of feels like a panic attack,” LaCorte says. “It’s almost anxiety-driving, in a good way.”
With that in mind, Wetmore wanted a piano section at the end for a cool-down effect, and Alex Wright got it on the fourth take. The hitmaker was a tad nervous about cutting the final vocal at the song’s accelerated speed. “I had to learn a little bit where to take my breaths and where to put the accent words,” he says. But he ended up doing additional takes to land five or six harmony parts over the lead vocal, embedding every nuance in his brain.
“Brunette” is currently the finale in his live show, and as it rollicks up the chart, the “unintentionally deceptive” lyrics have two factions of his audience battling it out for ownership.
“I like to see the blondes and brunettes kind of go back and forth at each other – ‘No, this song is about blondes’ or ‘This song is about brunettes,’” he says. “See what it stirred up.”
