Pat Green enjoys recording success, remembers his roots

By Jerry Fink

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Rising country star Pat Green is jazzed about playing Las Vegas again.

“The NFR is the best time of year for any country band to be coming to town, for sure,” Green says by phone from Dallas. “It’s kind of a built-in crowd. Everybody is rarin’ to go.”

Green performed in honky tonks and on college campuses before wowing the crowd at one of Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July picnics and gaining national attention with the hit single “Wave On Wave.”

He will perform Sunday and Monday at the Golden Nugget.

He’s also jazzed about his latest album, “What I’m For,” set to be released Jan. 27. A single from the CD, “Let Me,” has received airplay.

“Personally speaking, I think ‘What I’m For’ is the best record I’ve ever done,” he says. “I look for it to be, if not the crowning achievement of my career so far, at least the big, heavy hitter I’ve been waiting for. I listened to the record and I don’t see any holes in the armor.”

Green wrote eight of the 10 songs on the album. The first single, “Let Me,” recently was No. 18 on the Billboard chart.

Green was attracted to the love song because it didn’t use the word “love” in the lyrics. “And the melody is as big as the lyric,” he says.

The title song of the CD, “What I’m For,” is a list of things you’ll stand up for, Green says.

“It’s right down the middle of the pipes for country music,” he says. “I could hear Merle Haggard singing it, which is why I jumped into it.”

He says he’ll sing a couple of songs from the new album. “But I don’t want to overload on the songs if the public can’t get their hands on the album yet,” he says.

Green took a little time off from music to help create a picture book, “Dance Halls & Dreamers.” A portion of the sale of the book, which takes a peek at several Texas music venues, goes to the Texas Dancehall Preservation Society.

“Old dance halls around Texas are special to guys like me,” Green says. “They gave me a start. They gave Willie Nelson his start. They gave George Strait his start.

“I play them all at least once a year. They’re like musical fiber. They’re good for me. It’s wonderful to get the chance to follow in the footsteps of guys I consider to be the greatest talent of all time. It’s good for me to realize where I came from.