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Green expands horizons with newest album
By Nick Cenegy
Contributor
Published October 30, 2009
The last few years for Pat Green have been about trying new things and new perspectives.
The country singer, who built his following largely on the hallowed floorboards of Texas dance halls without a major record deal, recently signed with a Nashville label and stepped farther into the role of husband and father.
Tonight, Green will bring his dance hall-spirited show and songs from a new album to Galveston for the Concerts on the Gulf, a new Lone Star Rally series at Moody Gardens Outdoor Amphitheater. Green’s performance will be followed Saturday by performances from rock icons Lynyrd Skynyrd, Leon Russell and Edgar Winter.
While recent years have brought Green increased fame with tracks like “Wave on Wave,” from the gold-certified album of the same name, he said those years also have been a time of learning and decision-making. Age and his experiences have made him slower to judge right and wrong and shifted his perspective on things, Green said.
Green is now in his 30s, married nine years, has a 6-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter. He said he doesn’t hang out, party or drink quite as much as he used to. When he’s not writing or recording, he does normal guy stuff, spending his days golfing, playing with his children and taking his wife out to dinner.
In February, he released a slickly produced album, called “What I’m For,” that was a lot more “Nashville” than the rough-edged, homegrown, country brew for which he became known.
The record marked his entrance into the Nashville scene and onto the national stage.
But while more fans are listening to him than ever, the fiercely Texan core that supported him in his start has voiced its dismay on fan pages and online comments. The folks who viewed him as “their” artist, from “their” state, seem begrudgingly willing to lend him to Nashville.
Green said people have to try things to grow and learn. Making “What I’m For” was one of those things. Green co-wrote many of the tracks with established Nashville songwriters and recorded them with producer Dann Huff, who worked previously with Keith Urban and the Dixie Chicks. He said the songs better reflect his more adult perspective.
Though he is proud of the album and the more refined songwriting, he is ready to move past its “hospital-cornered” precision, Green said.
“People go through phases in their lives, and I tried some things but I have to keep making changes to keep it fresh. I’m ready to see what else we can do,” he said.
Green said he always has been very critical of his music and often views his younger songs as too haphazard.
“With a lot of songs I’ve written in my life, I would start a story and not end it. I was so unencumbered, there was no label and nobody telling me what to do,” he said.
Green recognizes some people liked the rougher sound, but he said the songs of his past sometimes amounted to three or four songs taped together.
Another change in his perspective is his plan to incorporate his band more in future writing and recording. Recent albums have featured only intermittent tracks with the whole band.
“It makes the process a lot better to me,” Green said.
The singer songwriter said he doesn’t know exactly where his music will take him for the next album, but it likely will be back to the basics. He said he and the band plan to make the familiar trip into the studio in about six months.
In the nearer term, he said he’s “jazzed” about his upcoming trip to Galveston.
Green said he has fond memories of childhood vacations to the Texas coast, and perhaps fonder adult memories of playing Galveston’s Mardi Gras three or so times.
The bay area around Galveston was featured as the setting for his 2006 music video for “Feels Just Like It Should.”
“I’m just glad to see that everybody is getting back to putting on bigger events down on Galveston after the hurricane,” Green said.
He said this will be the first time he has been back on the island since Hurricane Ike hit, and he intends to “bring both barrels” for his show tonight.
“Get ready, we’re going full-bore, I guarantee,” Green said.
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At a glance
WHAT: Pat Green at Concerts on the Gulf
WHEN: Gates open at 5 p.m. today. Trailer Choir goes on at 7 p.m. James Otto follows at 8 p.m., followed by Pat Green at 9 p.m.
WHERE: Moody Gardens Outdoor Amphitheater, 7 Hope Blvd., in Galveston
TICKETS: $45 reserved seating and $20 lawn section
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Lynyrd Skynyrd Saturday
WHAT: Lynyrd Skynyrd at Concerts on the Gult
WHEN: Gates open at 5 p.m. Saturday. Leon Russell goes on at 7 p.m. Edgar Winter Band follows at 8 p.m., then Lynyrd Skynyrd takes the stage at 9 p.m.
WHERE: Moody Gardens Outdoor Amphitheater, 7 Hope Blvd., in Galveston
TICKETS: $65 for reserved seating and $30 for lawn section
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