Green doesn't 'fit in,' but so what?
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.02.2009
Veteran Texas singer-songwriter Pat Green was selling out the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (capacity just shy of 60,000) long before anyone in Nashville took note of him. His fresh-from-the-frat-house hoedowns were — and still are — legendary for their frenetic energy.
But with his months-old album "What I'm For," his fifth national, major-label release, Green shows off a comfortable maturity and goes for the gut with straight-from-the-heartland rocking-country anthems and bluesy ballads.
"This record is a snapshot of what I think is how good I can do," he said. "If I keep that attitude, then maybe next time I'll be even better."
• No introduction necessary, but . . . Green was born in San Antonio and raised in Waco, Texas. The 37-year-old is the father of two and still lives in Texas.
• On the radio: The rocking wish-I-were-a-big "Country Star" — the second single from "What I'm For" — is getting heavy radio play but hasn't burned up the charts, coming inches from the Top 30.
• How he got here: Nashville came knocking as the century turned. A year or so before he got his first major-label deal, Green told us that until that point, he didn't really fit into Nashville's box: "My music is not mainstream." In many ways, Green still doesn't fit. His music sits at neither end of Nashville's spectrum — traditional or pop.
• His sound: Rocking Texas country, with old-school nods to Willie Nelson, unbridled guitarmanship reminiscent of Stevie Ray Vaughn and the fierce lyrical honesty of a Townes Van Zandt.
• His inspiration: Texas, and every soulful, country-leaning singer-songwriter who came before him.
• His aspiration (for this record): "I've got songs on there that I know make me happy and will make anybody who likes listening to the music happy. Man, I thought 'Cannonball' (2006) was going to be a monster record. There so much radio could latch onto, and it didn't happen. Period. Whatever.
• The "road to rehab" tour: Green's 2009 tour sponsor is Jägermeister, and he jokingly refers to his summer outing that includes Saturday's stop at Freedom Fest as the "road to rehab."
• Download and socialize: www.patgreen.com, twitter.com/patgreenmusic, www.facebook.com/PatGreen, www.myspace.com/patgreen, ilike.com/artist/Pat+Green, www.youtube.com/patgreen
— Cathalena E. Burch
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