Pat Green totes Texas tunes on East Coast tour
By Ethan Dougherty
Old Gold and Black Reviewer

When Pat Green took the stage at Ziggy’s Nov. 15, he knew who his audience was. “To me (the college market) is the drive,” he said, lounging on his tour bus several hours before show time. “A solid showing in a college-based arena typically lends you to a long career in this business.” And sure enough, it was primarily university students who packed the venue to watch Green take one more step in pursuit of such a career.
The 29-year-old Texas singer/songwriter who spent the past half-decade building a tremendous fan base in his home state has only in recent months achieved a high degree of national success. This can largely be attributed to his new album on the Universal label, Three Days, and its first single, “Carry On,” which has earned Green airtime on more than 100 radio stations nationwide, and the number one spot on Country Music Television’s Most Wanted Live.

“I think we’ve been fortunate to have some good luck with the radio stations and the way (CMT) jumped on the record,” Green said. “All that said, we still got a lot of work to do, a lot of people to get in front of and a lot of people to help understand us.”

Indeed, Green is hoping to reach new audiences by moving his show beyond the borders of the Lone Star state. “We’ve played Athens and Atlanta; Oxford, Mississippi; Auburn and Chattanooga on this run – and Nashville. And we’ve had great shows everywhere,” he said. “Seems like the music is going out in front of us, which is a good sign. When the music is on the radio and people show up to the show before they’ve had a friend tell them about it, that makes it helpful.”

Green performed in Winston-Salem last year at the Garage, where a small turnout made for an especially intimate atmosphere. This time around was different, however, as the country crooner announced at the start of the show that the Ziggy’s crowd was the biggest for which he has performed on the east coast to date. The comment was exactly what the fans wanted to hear (although a great deal of university attendees themselves hailed from Texas), and they cheered energetically as Green lit into his opening tune, “#2.”

He then moved on to other feel-good favorites, including “Me and Billy the Kid,” “Whiskey,” “Galleywinter,” “George’s Bar,” “Crazy,” “John Wayne and Jesus,” “Take Me Out To A Dancehall” and “Southbound 35.” Additionally, Green was sure to save room for some of the new cuts from Three Days. These consisted of the title track, “Carry On” and “Texas On My Mind.” But in one of the few disappointments of the evening, “Threadbare Gypsy Soul,” a duet with Willie Nelson and one of the strongest cuts on the new album, was left unmentioned by Green. Rounding out his set was a handful of both rock and country covers. Green did justice to “Amy,” “I Don’t Think Hank Done It This Way,” “Blister in the Sun” and his closing song since Sept. 11, “For What It’s Worth.”
Green progressed through his repertoire well. It included nearly enough well-known tunes to enable the audience to sing along with every piece, and the up tempo music kept most present singing, dancing and drinking throughout the show. Although he had never played Ziggy’s before, such a small, party atmosphere was not unfamiliar to Green.

“Back home we can play for as many as 35,000 to 40,000 people in a show. But at the same time, man, you can’t communicate personally with 35,000 or 40,000 people,” he said. “But at a show like this, everybody who is there has got a bead on your face and can look in your eyes. I’m very much in my own, I can read ‘em, see where they’re going.”

And if Green was set to put on a good show for university students onstage, he was just as willing to offer them words of wisdom behind the scenes. An inquiry about his favorite Thanksgiving memory led us into somewhat of a philosophical conversation on the ups and downs of a college love life. “There’s a difference between real life in love and college in love,” he explained. “College in love you can walk away. I’m serious, man, you mark my words. There’s a difference.

“I mean, when I was in love in college, you get broken up with, you start looking pretty quick,” Green, who attended Texas Tech, continued. “You get out of school and life gets a little more complicated. I remember a girl dumped me after college, and I couldn’t do anything for a year. But I guess there’s just more stuff going on in college. When you get done with going to school every day, and you’re a musician, you just kind of sit around a lot.”

The moral of the story? I wasn’t really sure, but sufficed to say, Green should not have to worry about running short of songwriting material any time soon.

Ultimately, one finds Green to be a simple, down-to-earth man. He enjoys golfing and hunting. He likes to joke around, even with his interviewers. So his answer to my final question didn’t come as a great surprise. “Years from now,” I asked, “how do you wish to be remembered?” Green paused for just a moment, as if contemplating the question. “I don’t care to be remembered for anything,” he responded. “If I do get remembered for something, great. I’m just trying to live my life. I do believe that every night I should tell people to be safe, but other than that, who am I to be anything but just a guy who plays music? That’s what I was made to do. And I was made to love my wife. Those are my two jobs.”