When Riley Green played music in bars around his hometown in Alabama, he had business cards printed. It said “Riley Green, country singer” and right below that was his phone number.

But now, at 35, those old business cards don’t even begin to do justice to the person Green has become.

C&I sat down with Green at his brand new Nashville bar, Duck Blind—the steak biscuits are a must—to learn more about his path to success on Music Row without ever actually moving to Tennessee. First, he immersed himself in what his family considered country music. Then came the revelation that maybe he could make a living doing this, like he’s doing now with his new 18-track album I don’t mind if I do.

“My grandfather would say: George Jones, Roy Acuff, Merle Haggard and Hank Williams was Country music. My inspiration comes from learning how to play guitar by watching old men play these traditional country songs. From then on, construction was extremely slow. I was literally building houses for $500 a week and playing gigs on the weekends up until the week before I signed a record deal,” he said. “Music was just a hobby for me and my grandfather.”

And while so many country music hopefuls chase the elusive neon rainbow, for Green it worked the exact opposite way. “I had no vision of commercial success. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. I just didn’t think I was good enough. I played cover songs and they let me drink for free. Then when record companies came along and people started thinking about releasing songs on the radio, it was a big awakening.

“And I got tired of playing the same country covers at every show,” he explained, “and that’s when I started writing my own songs.” Then, when he was 30, Green signed a record deal in Nashville.

Since his debut single, “There Was This Girl,” his unwavering commitment to keeping the country in country music has come through loud and clear in every song. Whether he’s covering a song he once loved or composing a song from the everyday muses of his country life, the music always ends up sounding like something his late grandfathers adored. Just like Green’s fans.

Green’s method, he said C&IIt’s about starting with a great title or a great hook and then making the story work. That’s exactly what he did with “Jesus Saves” on his new album.

Because he didn’t see many homeless people growing up in Alabama, the idea for the song came to him when he started playing concerts in big cities. “I had never been on a plane before I signed a record deal,” he said. “When we spend time in cities and see someone on the side of the road, we tend to think they are doing drugs or drinking. I started thinking about what someone might have been through and how that would make you feel more compassionate. That could easily have been me if a few things hadn’t gone right.” He wrote the song by painting a picture of someone in distress trying to lure you in with just the right thing on a cardboard sign.

In addition to his gritty Alabama style, Green has a few other techniques that are essential to his songwriting. The most important of these is storytelling. “In country music, different things happen melodically, but as long as the song tells a story, it’s country music.”

For Green, his home in Alabama is just that: home. It’s bigger now – he owns 680 acres of land – and has a lake, goats, pigs and bass in the pond. “I’m attached to it. I’m in Pleasant Valley, outside of Jacksonville. That’s where I grew up and I don’t want the situation to change compared to my childhood. I can’t imagine getting inspiration anywhere outside of Alabama. That’s why it’s more important now than ever for me to continue to go home. When I get back there, there is a little shop at the end of the street called Green’s Store. The owner is EL Green and he is about 94 years old. All the old men go over there, drink coffee and play dominoes. I usually don’t sleep well when I get home, so I end up there drinking coffee and chatting about all the gossip the old people talk about. It always surprises me how little the conversation revolves around the topic I“Do it,” he laughed.

As he makes music and performs around the world — his ambitious Damn Country Music tour begins in early 2025 — returning home is the only way for Green to stay true to his roots. “As soon as I pull into the driveway, I become so disconnected from my country music touring life that I keep going back home,” he said.