Unlike many future stars, Green doesn't claim to have a "rock star moment" when he knew he was destined for fame, but music did take hold of him at an early age.
"When I was a kid I had a chameleon-like voice. I thought I could sing like anyone and hit any note I wanted to hit, although years of cigarettes and booze have limited that. I loved watching my dad perform; he did musicals in regional theater. Having fun singing myself was the one-two punch. I didn't pick up the guitar till I was 18, but when I started playing guitar and singing along, that sealed the deal."
Green's a self-taught guitarist, "but my band will tell you there's no benefit to that," he deadpanned. He started playing gigs in college at Texas Tech in Lubbock, where he also met his wife Kori, years recalled fondly in the song "College," a duet with Brad Paisley, ("I had so much fun in those four years, that I stretched it into six.") featured on Lucky Ones. He put together a band, dropped out of school and set to conquer Texas. "The point was for us to do we wanted to do. Texas is the size of France and has 18 million people and if everyone in Texas buys your records, you can have a career bigger than most."
After locking down Texas and starting his own record label - his four indie releases are now distributed by Universal Music Group (George's Bar; Dancehall Dreamer; Here We Go Live and Carry On) - Green set his sights on the national stage, a goal Nelson's Picnic helped him achieve. "[The Picnic] was the first thing to get us on the national map. We played about five in the afternoon, and it was raining and I went splish splashing around the stage like an idiot, but it seemed to work."
Green is taking his success with the same down to earth attitude that has won him his legion of loyal fans. "I wanted to see if this band could make a mark, and while I don't want to change the world, I do want to take it as far as I can take it. Some bands like the smaller venues and the captive audiences, but I want to spread out and see what I can see."
And one last thing about Pat Green-he doesn't wear a cowboy hat. "I didn't set out to wear, or not wear, anything. Sometimes I do wear a cowboy hat, but I don't know that I have a pattern with my headwear. I use to go barefoot all the time, but now I wear shoes, after stepping on chords and cables on stage. I'm very non-committal. Nothing I see in the future is locked down in stone. I'm only 30 so there's still lots of time for me to make plenty of mistakes." There was a pause before Green finished up. "I say I'm 30 to keep my sanity, but I'm actually 32, so I guess I'm a liar too, and I've got plenty of time to tell more of them, too."
