Having spent a little over a decade in country music, Riley Green wasted no time making a name for himself. Working with stars like Luke Combs and Thomas Rhett, Green released three studio albums. He also produced hit songs like “There Was This Girl” and “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.” Not that long ago, he celebrated the release of his newest album Don’t Mind If I Do. While embracing country music, Green recently explained how Merle Haggard helped kickstart his love for the genre.
Thrilled about what he was able to accomplish with the new album, Green discussed his thoughts on Don’t Mind If I Do with Apple Music. “It feels fitting that this album is out on my birthday because this project feels very true to who I am, where I come from and what I’ve learned along the way. I learned to play guitar to my granddaddy’s favorite country songs from back in the day and this new album is a throwback to the era when I first became a fan.”
Videos by American Songwriter
Recalling the first song that touched his heart, Green pointed to Haggard’s classic song “Sing Me Back Home.” The country singer insisted, “I can remember one of the first songs I ever heard that made me really feel something from the lyrics was ‘Sing Me Back Home’ by Merle Haggard. It was talking about the guy in prison, wanting to hear one last song. Something about that… something I could never comprehend, but that was what the song did. It took me to a place I had never mentally been before.”
Riley Green Remembers Growing Up In The “Burnt CD Era”
At 36 years old, Green watched his childhood matured through the 1990s and early 2000s. Remembering what it was like to listen to music at the time, he said, “I grew up in the burnt CD era, so we had a lot of different type of music. It wasn’t like a country CD. I had a sister that was 10 years older than me, she listened to Sublime and Weezer and Matchbox Twenty. My mom was like Fleetwood Mac and The Mamas and The Papas.”
As for the music Green’s father and grandfather loved, “My dad loved The Band… still one of my favorite groups, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Marshall Tucker Band. My grandaddy, Bufford, that was really where my big music passion came from. Like Roy Acuff and Merle Haggard and George Jones. So I listened to a lot of different music.”
(ADAM DAVIS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)