Riley Green is opening up about his soaring career. Green, who released his debut Different ‘Round Here album in 2019, has parlayed his country music career into other opportunities, including acting in the hit TV show, Marshals, and becoming a coach on the 30th season of The Voice.
For the Alabama native, the fact that he has any kind of success in country music, let alone becoming a superstar, is still surprising to him.
“I don’t remember at any point through high school, even college, thinking, ‘I might have a music career,'” Green admits on the Today Show. “When I stopped playing ball in college, I was working construction. I started playing in bars. I played cover shows at these bars, and somebody else would come after me, and they could sing circles around me.
“So the only thing I could do to set myself apart was to write, because nobody can write the exact story I’m gonna come up with,” he adds. “When people started to tell me that this meant something to them, or that line reminded them of this, that was when I kind of became passionate about it.”
Green still vividly remembers the moment he realized he could perhaps make a living in country music, and it was during his first big gig in Alabama.
“I went from playing Loco Mex, which was about 80 to 100 people, for $150 a night, to going and selling out Iron City in Birmingham, which I’d seen Chris Stapleton play at,” Green remembers.” It was this big venue, to me in my mind, 1300 people.”
Riley Green Talks About His New ‘That’s Just Me’ Album
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Green’s That’s Just Me album, his fourth, will be out on September 18. The record includes “My Way” and “Think As You Drunk,” the latter of which features the late Toby Keith.
“Now that I’m a few albums in, where I’m at in my career is different,” Green reflects. “I always try to think about what got me here, what types of songs and where I was mentally writing from, and making sure those songs are always on an album.”
Green wrote “Think As You Drunk” with Jessi Alexander, Erik Dylan, and Wyatt McCubbin, with the idea of writing something like Keith might do.
“We did sit down to write a Toby Keith kind of song,” Green recalls. “We sent it to his manager. He played it for the family, and they loved the idea of him being part of the song, and having ‘As Good As I Once Was’ at the end.”… It’s cool too, because you’ve got something that is a moment that will pull at you a little bit. But it’s also a moment that is very happy.”
Riley Green’s Reign As a Superstar in Country Music
Green’s two duets, both “You Look Like You Love Me” and “Don’t Mind If I Do” with Ella Langley certainly helped propel both of their careers forward. But rather than feeling pressure, the 37-year-old is excited about his future in country music.
“It feels different. It’s not an expectation thing, though,” Green says. “There’s not really more pressure now, especially not from fans. More people are finding me every day, so to make that circle bigger. … I’m able to put out music and grow something that’s really been growing for the last 12 years.”
In addition to being on TV and touring, Green also has his own Duck Blind bar in Nashville, which has become one of the biggest marks of his success.
“The opportunities I’ve got now are just things I never would have dreamed of,” Green acknowledges. “And the bar is probably the biggest one, because there’s a bar that I can go to and eat breakfast for free every morning. Nobody can throw me out of it. I got a key to a bar.”
Photo Credit: CMA / Zach Whitmore