RILEY GREEN - BREAKS BIG HIGH NOTES, HITS AND LONG ROADS

More than any other musical genre, country has an emotional connection to place. The best artists bring us into their worlds. They give us glimpses of their hometowns and heartaches through stories that are as easy to relate to as they are to get lost in. Riley Green, one of country and western’s newest stars, does just that. His soulful tunes and authentic storytelling make us long for the simplicity of pickup trucks and cut-off blue jeans, faithful dogs, and long-lost loves. The spirit of the South runs as deeply through his songs as it does through a Faulkner novel.In the middle of his extensive international Ain’t My Last Rodeo tour, the college quarterback turned country music star was riding high from his recent chart-topping hit featuring Luke Combs.Riley sat down on stage with us prior to one of his recently sold-out shows in California, and we chatted about the highs and lows of life on tour, his creative process, and the routines that keep him connected to his Alabama roots.

Randy Mastronicola: Our staff is jazzed you’re gracing the pages of our magazine–particularly the female staffers. Our readers are overdue for a country and western artist as well.
Riley Green: Thank you. I love your publication, man.

It's been an intense period for you given your 2024 touring schedule.
Definitely. There's no off-season for touring musicians right now.

It's not like football.
Not at all. It's a full-time job, but at the same time, what a cool way to be out there making a living.

You're living your dream. I believe you had your third number 1 recently, and that was with Luke Combs.
Luke Combs is on a song of mine called Different 'Round Here. It was the title track on my debut album, so it had been out for a couple of years. But I went on a stadium tour with Luke last year, and the timing was great to hit radio with it.

Kismet. Did you think early on that the song was going to hit kaboom, or was it just like, "Oh, we’ll see..."?I can't say that I've written many songs that I just knew would be hits, especially on the radio. I try a lot of songs out at shows and see what the reaction is. Different 'Round Here was one of those songs that always raised hands. When I got Luke involved, and we made it into a single, it was just that much bigger.I've got some hit songs that were never played on the radio, songs I wrote long before I signed a record deal. I just try to write songs that I think fans will relate to and latch on to.

You can see it at your concerts. I don’t even know what classifies as a hit nowadays anyway. In the past, you make a demo, you try to get signed, you put out a single, and hope it hits. That’s not really the process anymore.I think a lot of that’s gone away because there are different ways to be successful outside of a traditional record deal. When I signed the deal, I had 25 songs already recorded. It was a little different for me. I had a brand, I had something that was working, and we just tried to do more of that.

I'm always fascinated by people who have wide-ranging talents. You flourished as a Division 1 quarterback at Jacksonville. Is there any connection between being an athlete and a music artist? Or are they two very different parts of you?I would never say that I flourished in college football. [laughter]I was trying to be kind, man.Yes, I appreciate that a lot. [laughs] I think to answer your question plainly, the connection between sports and being successful in musicis, for me, the accountability that I learned in college sports. Coming out of high school, you're an 18-year-old kid. You've been made to do everything you've done at this point in life, and you get to college and how hard you want to work is how successful you're going to be. In music, it’s that. I could play 30 shows a year. Nobody's holding a gun to me and making me go play these shows, travel, and be away from home. It's the motivation of seeing something that's working—our fans, enjoying writing songs, and being in front of crowds. That’s what I took from playing college football.

We’ve talked a little football. Now, I'm going to share a moment where entertainment and football rub up against one another. Now, I’m curious.When I interviewed Joe Buck, he told me that his pre-game ritual with Troy Aikman is to take a little shot of tequila and get a little fired up. Is there any ritual that you enjoy with your band and crew before a gig? We have a circle-up moment and a prayer before we go on stage.That's wonderful. You guys go the opposite of Buck and Aikman.I always try to get a little bit of time to myself before going on stage. Playing sports, there’s always a moment when you're getting the team fired up asa coach. You go over things, and then you just want to sit there and get in the mental space. Especially, playing quarterback. I think taking a moment to myself is probably the biggest ritual I have.But now that you mention it–I do take a shot of tequila every night. But it’s during the third song, so I don’t get ahead of myself.

There you go. I had a feeling.
I’ve found that the third song of the set is a great time for it. It just gets me through the whole thing.That’s the marker.

To me, the most fascinating thing about you is Carl–your famous corgi. Aka Carl the Cowboy Corgi.[laughs] Carl's probably the most popular thing about me in a lot of circles. He’s become a very famous dog. He's a corgi-blue heeler. I found him at a buddy of mine’s horse farm in Arkansas. His demeanor, he didn’t jump up and bark, like a lot of little dogs. He would just be around you. He'd come lay there by your feet and take a nap.I've always had labs for duck hunting. I have my lab Jazz back home, but I could never take her on the road. She's so active and she’s a big dog. Carl's a perfect tour-bus dog. He rides with me everywhere. He’s very, very popular with the fans. I think there'll be four or five signs in the crowd every night saying, "Where’s Carl?" He’s got his own merch. He's starting to realize how popular he is, too. You can tell.

It's going to his head a little bit.[laughter] Yes. A little bit.There's just something divine about corgis, having had one myself.Yes, I’ve always had a good relationship with my labs, but the corgi personality is so different. Because Jazz is a trained hunting dog—I trained her from a puppy—you can tell when she knows she’s done something right. She gets enjoyment out of that. Carl’s a completely different animal. He’s got a side-eye he’ll give you. He’s got a little bit of sass.Love it.It's entertaining, man. He keeps us all entertained on the road.

You have a rigorous tour schedule. But when you get off tour, and you need to decompress, what does that look like for you?
I spend a lot of time on the road just thinking about little projects I can be working on when I get back to my farm in Alabama. I’ve done construction my whole life. We've always had equipment of some type. Riding around on a tractor, and clearing off some of the property, is very relaxing for me.It's a good disconnect because even just being back in Nashville, but off the road, feels like work to me. That's where we do a lot of writing. We havea lot of recording sessions and meetings. There’s nothing like that on my farm. The world moves a lot slower there. There’s one flashing light and one convenience store out there. My grandmother still lives a few miles from my farm. My entire family lives right there. It’s a really great place for me, not only to decompress, but it’s also where I get all the inspiration to write songs.I don't have a lot in common with the big city. I grew up in a small town in Alabama. The more often I can get out there, the more I’m able to write.

We all need that safe place. You have a new EP out, correct? You covered Bruce Springsteen's Atlantic City. Why that particular song of Bruce's? I was from the era of burnt CDs. I’ve always listened to so many different types of music. We could have Tim McGraw and Tupac on the same CD. I had a sister who was 10 years older than me, so she was into Sublime and Weezer. My mom and dad were more classic rock. The Band, Marshall Tucker Band, and Bruce Springsteen fell into that realm with Bob Seger. That stuff was really before my time, but I just enjoyed something about that music.Americana.Yes. I think because we're in California at this moment, and I’m singing songs about my small town in Alabama, I think most people don’t know anything about the place I’m singing about. There was something about Bruce Springsteen’s Atlantic City that I felt the same way about. I didn’t know about the “Chicken Man” and the things that he was singing about. I felt something but didn’t know exactly what.The Band’s version of it with Levon Helm was the one I really latched onto. I’m a huge fan of The Band. I think I could do an hour-long cover set of their songs. I probably did at some point. I played Atlantic City at shows for years, and fans just really made it an original song for me. It was cool to go back and record it and shine some light on it now. Playing it, seeing fans’ reactions, is always a love of mine.

We talked about Luke. I know you’ve collab'd with Thomas Rhett. Is there anyone on the EP that you’ve featured, or is it all you?No collabs on the Way Out Here EP. On my last album, we did a song with Jelly Roll. It’s just tough to find the time. Especially, with me writing from a very personal place. There are some songs like I Wish Grandpas Never Died that are so personal to me.It’s hard to find a song that’s right for a collaboration when it’s something that personal. Definitely. There will be some more collabs in the future. This EP was just a lot of self-penned songs that were really personal.

What should we be on the lookout for the rest of the year? I’m constantly writing. We’ve got a lot of new music. We’re in the studio as we speak, cutting through the next album that we’re looking to put out in the fall. We’ll probably release some of those songs a little early to give fans a taste of the album before it comes out.

Sure. Tease it.
Like I said, we’ll be touring through Thanksgiving. Even when this tour ends, we’ll be on the road and catch you somewhere.

What’s your cigar moment right now? When do you like to have your cigar and relax—maybe pair it up with a little bit of tequila—that Zen moment? After any show, it’s great to sit down by the bus and have a cigar moment. We do that quite a bit. After a good run on the road. I’ve got buddies that are into cigars as well. When they’re out with me, I usually try to have a box. We’ll sit around and share one and catch up. On the farm, I’ve got a little cigar room. I’ll say it’s a poker room, but we don't play cards. We sit around the table and talk and smoke cigars. It’s just a great way to catch up, and has always been a cool thing for me. That’s what’s so wonderful about cigars.I could talk about this all day, but there is that connection. If you’re by yourself, there’s a connection—contemplative. It could be a way to chill out or be with your buddies. Sit around and have a meaningful conversation, laugh, and be silly as well. The cigar is sometimes a conduit, you know? It's got that nostalgic, traditional feel to it. My granddad only smoked cigars. It connects you to that back-in-the-old-days feel for me.

Obviously, there’s no smoking allowed on stage as we’re chatting, but I do look forward to having a cigar with you one of these days.After the show, we might step out and smoke one.

That’s a deal.
Postscript: And we did. @rileyduckman @carlthecowboycorgi