Included on Riley Green‘s latest Don’t Mind If I Do album is a song called “Jesus Saves.” The tune, one of a handful on the 18-track project that Green wrote by himself, was inspired by Green’s travels, far from his rural Alabama roots.
“I’d never even been on a plane before I signed a record deal,” Green tells Cowboys & Indians. “Spending time in cities and seeing somebody on the side of the road, we tend to lean towards thinking they’re on drugs or drinking. I started thinking about what somebody could’ve been through, and how that would make you feel more compassionate. That could’ve easily been me if a handful of things didn’t go right.”
Green’s roots in country music run deep, even if he never imagined himself as one of its leading acts.
“My granddaddy would say that George Jones, Roy Acuff, Merle Haggard and Hank Williams were country music,” Green shares. “So my inspiration comes from learning how to play guitar by watching old men play those traditional country songs. It was an extremely slow build from there. I was literally framing houses for $500 a week and playing shows on the weekend, right up to the week before I signed a record deal. Music was just a hobby for me and my granddaddy.”
Green’s biggest dreams for himself didn’t include having songs on the radio, let alone No. 1 singles and a CMA Award. He just wanted to play music, a dream that came true in a much bigger way than he ever anticipated.
“I didn’t have any visions of commercial success,” Green admits. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want it. I just didn’t think I was good enough. I was playing cover songs and they’d let me drink for free. So when record labels started coming, and you start thinking about having songs on the radio, that was a huge awakening.
“And I got tired of playing the same country cover songs at every show, and that’s when I started writing my own songs,” he adds.
Green still calls Alabama home, all 680 acres that he owns, complete with a lake, fish and animals he takes care of when he isn’t on the road. His success has taken him all over the world, but there isn’t anywhere he’d rather be than on his own property.
“The amount of disconnect I get from my touring country music lifestyle as soon as I turn onto my driveway, is what keeps me going back home,” Green says.
Green has released two duets with Ella Langley, plus songs with Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett and more. But there’s one artist he hopes he can soon collaborate with on a tune, as much for their collective fans as their own careers.
“There are so many great artists out there, so many people I’m a fan of,” Green says. “I’ve always been a big fan of Cody Johnson. I think that’d be a cool one. I’ll never forget we did a show together at maybe Terminal West in Atlanta. This has been I don’t know how many years ago. I think he opened for me, and his fans and my fans were so obvious, ’cause his had cowboy hats on and all mine had Atlanta Braves hats on,”
Green is back at radio with “Worst Way.” He is joined by Langley on his Damn Country Music Tour. Find all of his music and upcoming shows at RileyGreenMusic.com.