By Andrew W. Griffin
pop writer
Calling pop to discuss his career and tonight's concert at Riverwind Casino, Pat Green interrupts as introductions are underway to tell his wife he will call her back.
On the other line, Green says, "OK. I'm on the phone. I'll talk to you soon. I love you. Bye."
Resuming his conversation with pop, Green says, "I'm sorry. My wife is in London and not with me. She didn't know I was doing an interview."
And that's just an example of Pat Green's life these days. A devoted family man with a wife and two children, the busy Texan is in the midst of a tour supporting his latest album, "What I'm For," released earlier this year on BNA Records.
Asked if his family accompanies him on tour, Green laughs and said that now with his second child, it doesn't happen often. He noted that when he plays big cities like Chicago or New York, his wife will be there with him.
"But if I'm in Des Moines or someplace smaller, she usually isn't there," said Green with a chuckle.
If anything, Green comes across as a good-natured guy who deeply loves the Lone Star State. These days he calls Fort Worth home, having spent a number of years in Austin and in Lubbock during his college years when he first got his start.
With this being his 11th release, Green said he is proud of "What I'm For."
Talking about his professional decision to take his sound national, Green said he had started to consider his music as "survival."
"I began to watch the guys who wouldn't dare sign with a national record label or once they did, did so begrudgingly," he said. "I now watch those guys being left behind. I'm not willing to watch my career go down that way. For me, I've simply had a great time recording music I'm proud of."
Starting out as a cult figure on the rootsy Texas/Red Dirt scene, in the past couple of years, Green has entered, and some say surpassed, the authentic and stratospheric territory of fellow Texas musicians like Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen and the late Townes Van Zandt.
Surpassed, in that he has been embraced by Nashville and has become quite successful in the process. Green has proven that Texas musicians can remain true to their origins and be accepted on the national level.
Green then begins talking more about "What I'm For," saying that when he recorded it -- two years after the release of his last record, "Cannonball" -- he was anxious to record some new music.
"We've had a great response to the record," Green said, noting that the re-recording of his signature hit, "Carry On," was a call he made.
Saying that the song was "a favorite" and "one of the strongest songs we've ever written," the Green and Walt Wilkins-penned tune is a concert and fan favorite and with a new, more Nashville-centric crowd latching onto his music, Green thought re-recording "Carry On" made sense, even though it had been a single, hitting No. 35 on the country charts back in 2001.
"Of course the stars have to be aligned to release it as a single again... you never know," Green said.
To date, 2003's "Wave on Wave" is Green's biggest hit, having reached No. 3 on the country charts that year. The first single from "What I'm For," "Let Me," went as high as number 12.
Green says that obsessing about the charts isn't something he does. Plus, he said, the public doesn't really care if a song made it to No. 8 or No. 19. They just want the music.
Green notes the most recent single, "Country Star," which this pop country music reviewer specifically noted in a review of the album this past February, in that it "deliberately layers on the cheese" was a humor song in the Brad Paisley vein.
Green admits the song, which is a tongue-in-cheek take on Nickelback's "Rock Star" and Kenny Chesney's "Big Star," did not take off the way he and the label expected.
"With humor songs you know pretty quickly whether or not it's going to be a hit," Green said. "It wasn't moving very fast." Seeing that, Green and BNA Records decided the title track -- "What I'm For" -- was a good choice for the latest single. It's currently in the Top 20.
Producer Dann Huff, who has been a force in pop and country music for over two decades, was at the helm for "What I'm For."
"Dann is fantastic," Green said. "He has a tremendous knowledge of how to make songs work."
Green thinks the new album has one or two more singles in it. And he says that he is looking to getting back to his rootsy sound on the next album.
"I want to lean a lot heavier on the creative side rather than the marketing side," Green said.
And will it have those "songs about Texas" on it?
"I used to have a deal in my head that (an album) had to have a Texas song on it," he said. "And believe me, I love to sing about my home state."
But he left that question kind of open.
Asked about his live shows -- he has played Riverwind several times already and is pleased that they now allow alcohol in the performance hall -- Green is matter-of-fact.
"I'm nowhere near the end of my career," Green said, adding this, to fellow Texas musicians, "But if you don't establish yourself and keep playing the same places you'll run out of places to play."
Green said playing in places like Norman and Stillwater were great, but by the third time in a year's time they played those towns, folks weren't coming out as much. Now, with national exposure on CMT and on mainstream country radio, Green is able to provide himself and his band and crew "a living."
"I never stop," Green said with a laugh. "Where I used to play up to 200 shows a year, now I play about 100 shows a year."
Green and his band, which includes bassist Michael Tarabay, one-time husband to Dixie Chick Natalie Maines (Green jokes about this relationship during his shows. He says he's not expecting any Christmas cards from Ms. Maines), are well-seasoned in putting on exciting, energetic, tuneful live performances.
"I love going out and doing shows where people are ready to party," Green said, in anticipation of tonight's show at Riverwind. "I'll give what I can. I love playing in Oklahoma."
Pat Green will perform 8 tonight at Riverwind Casino. Tickets start at $30. For more information, visit www.riverwind.com.
