Reuben Azriel Whetten (born July 3, 2005) is an American/Mexican country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He has released a handful of singles, two EPs, and two albums. His latest release was Don't Call Me (Headin' Home).

Early life

Reuben Whetten is the firstborn of Dena and Jorge Whetten. He was born in El Paso, Texas, and was raised in Colonia Dublán, Chihuahua, Mexico; Safford, Arizona; and Colonia Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. In his early life, he listened to country singers on the radio like Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Zac Brown Band, and Taylor Swift.

At a young age, Whetten loved watching his grandpa play "Bimbo" by Jim Reeves on the guitar and sing. Watching his grandpa's fingers strum those strings, move around the fretboard, and sing along to the guitar influenced Whetten to sing and play guitar. In fifth grade at his elementary school, Whetten learned to play the bass guitar in a band formed in Colonia Juárez. He learned the acoustic guitar at age twelve, in his first year at the Academia Juárez, because he thought it would give him an advantage and let him accompany his grandpa. At the age of fourteen, he began writing his own songs, and between fourteen and fifteen, he switched among genres such as pop, country, hip-hop/rap, and singer-songwriter.

Music career

Whetten officially began his music career in August 2019, writing songs through September and recording them in October. He learned how to play the ukulele in August 2019 while writing "You Are Perfect" with his cousin, Denya Ruvalcaba. At school, the talent show was coming up, and he was thinking, "It's now or never! Hopefully, now I'll be more popular at school!" He auditioned his songs "My Happy USA" and "You Are Perfect." He was accepted to play in the talent show a few days later. He decided that even though he didn't audition for "Please Be Mine," he was going to play it at the talent show anyway. On October 9, 2019, Whetten played at his school talent show. He had his friend, Ramón Echavarria, from the audience record a video of the whole performance, and Whetten uploaded it on YouTube.

In March 2020, Whetten released "Empty Wallet." This song ended up being the lead single off his debut EP, "STRUGGLES." Starting in April 2020, Whetten worked on a 12-track album that includes the 2 lead singles "My Little Town" and "Dream Plan." On November 4, 2020, Whetten was in his high school talent show. He performed "Empty Wallet." Due to COVID-19, the talent show was performed online. It was viewed on the "Zoom" platform. Whetten uploaded the video on YouTube the same day. Whetten decided to name his debut album "Outside" because most of the album's songs were written outside. His debut album was released on January 15, 2021.

Whetten decided to switch to country music in October 2020 because he lives in a ranching and farming community and has family members who are ranchers, so he wanted to keep those roots in his music. Since his change to country music, his EP, named "In Those Boots," was released on April 30, 2021. The runner-up single, "Texan In Me", came out on July 16, 2021. "Dirt, Tumbleweeds, & Boots," featuring his younger sister, Mia Whetten, was released on October 23, 2021, and "Redneck Like Me" was released on February 25, 2022.

These three songs were featured on his 14-track sophomore album, "Inside," which was released on July 1st, 2022. "In Those Boots," the song, was mixed differently from the "In Those Boots - EP" version, and was also featured on the album as the album version. On July 1st at 11 AM, the Inside Album Premiere video went live on YouTube.

On October 13, 2022, Whetten performed his 2 songs he wrote during the summer of 2022, "Cowboy Lost" and "Something 'Bout Tennessee" at his school talent show. One of his friends recorded his performance, and Whetten uploaded it on YouTube.

On July 31, 2023, Whetten decided to take a 2-year break from music (2023-2025) after starting his missionary service for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in the Mexico Puebla North Mission (July 31, 2023- July 24, 2024) and the Mexico Puebla East Mission (July 25, 2024 - July 16, 2025). Since his return to music in July 2025, Whetten noticed that some music released through Amuse was taken down during his mission due to metadata issues. The music no longer available on streaming platforms includes "We're Getting Lost In Nature (feat. Denya Ruvalcaba)," "My Happy USA (Re-recorded)," "Questions," and his "STRUGGLES - EP." They are, however, available to listen to on Bandcamp. On November 7, 2025, Whetten released "Songs I Wrote on My Mission."

Towards the end of 2025 and beginning of 2026, Whetten has had his music played on internet radio stations including his debut radio airplay on Radio Free Texas, based in Nederland, Texas, Coastal Breeze Radio, based in Bridlington, UK, The Coyote - Bold New Country based in Nashville, Tennessee (now merged with Kickin' Kountry 101, based in Marion, North Carolina), DownHomeRadio, based in Everette, Washington, 107.5 The Swamp, based in Breaux Bridge, Louisianna, and Ashland County's Country - The Barn, based in Polk, Ohio. He received his first FM radio airplay on 94.9 Radio Western, based in London, Ontario, Canada, and 102.7 CILU, based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. He will soon receive more FM radio airplay from 101.7 KSAM, based in Hunstville, Texas, 89.7 CountryStyleMusic based in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, and internet radio airplay including Big Texas Radio, based in Zavalla, Texas, Texas Brew Radio, based in Fort Worth, Texas, Mundo Vaquero Radio, based in Chihuahua City, Chihuahua, Mexico, and Subele Al Country, based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Whetten played his debut paid show at the 12th Annual Colors of Copper in Clifton, Arizona, on February 28, 2026. He played a few unreleased songs, including his most recently released single, "Don't Call Me (Headin' Home)," which was released on March 20, 2026.

Music featurings

In The Music

On October 3, 2020, Whetten's Outside Album Premiere YouTube video was featured on the music website, "In The Music". "So, one day I googled myself like I do pretty much every day to see what's new and what's changed about me on the internet, and I found this one page that had my album premiere video on it, and I was really happy that it could get more attention from a music website I never knew existed, so yeah, it's pretty cool", Whetten recalled.

INDIY - COUNTRY

On June 15, 2021, Whetten's country EP, the In Those Boots - EP was featured on the Spotify playlist "INDIY - COUNTRY". On July 24, 2021, Whetten's single Texan In Me was added to the playlist. On October 25, 2021, Dirt, Tumbleweeds, & Boots (feat. Mia Whetten) was added to the playlist. "I was looking around the internet to find some country music playlists to submit to, and I found this one I liked. I submitted my song In Those Boots, so it could be added. I got an email the next day that it was added to the playlist. I checked it out to see if my song was there and sure enough, not just that song was added, but the ENTIRE EP

was added! That's crazy! I submitted Texan In Me and sure enough, it was added to the playlist. 7 songs of mine on a country playlist should gain some pretty good money."

Indiy Independent Music Spotlight

On June 17, 2021, Whetten was interviewed by Indiy online through a form. "I got an email the other day saying that Indiy wanted to interview me, so I took the chance to answer their questions. I didn't think they'd actually put it up on their website or anything, but I then got an email the next day saying that their interview with me was up online. This is the very first time I've actually been interviewed by a company as an artist," Whetten recalled.

Mundo Vaquero

On March 19, 2026, Whetten was featured in an article by Mundo Vaquero, a country/western media platform based in Chihuahua City, Chihuahua, Mexico. The title features "Reuben Whetten: la nueva promesa del country con raíces entre México y Estados Unidos," which translates to English as "Reuben Whetten: the new promise of country music with roots between Mexico and the United States."

Personal Life

Reuben Whetten has a brother and a sister. In his free time, he likes to play guitar, watch YouTube videos, sometimes play video games, sleep, write songs, read scriptures, and hit the studio to work on new music. He graduated from the Academia Juárez, also known as Juarez Stake Academy (JSA) on June 15, 2023.

Religion

Reuben Whetten was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on July 6, 2013. He served a full-time mission for 2 years (2023-2025) in the Mexico Puebla North Mission (July 31, 2023- July 24, 2024) and the Mexico Puebla East Mission (July 25, 2024 - July 16, 2025).

Born

Nationality
Education
Occupation

Genres

Instruments

Years active

Reuben Azriel Whetten
July 3, 2005 (20 years old)
El Paso, Texas, United States
American ・ Mexican
Academia Juárez (2017-2023)
Singer ・ Songwriter ・ guitarist ・ record producer ・ music publisher
Country ・ Singer/songwriter ・ Hip-hop/rap ・ Pop
Acoustic guitar ・ electric guitar ・ bass guitar ・ ukulele ・ piano・ banjo ・ harmonica
2019 - 2023, 2025 - Present

Reuben Whetten performing You Are Perfect at the Academia Juárez talent show; October 9, 2019.

Reuben Whetten performing at the 12th Annual Colors of Copper in Clifton, Arizona; February 28, 2026

Early life

Music career