Texas singer Pat Green to appear at Wild Things Park

In 1997, Pat Green was 25 and doing pretty well as a fuel wholesaler. He was also doing pretty well in his weekend work as a musician, pulling in as much as $20,000 for a couple of nights of strumming a guitar and singing his songs.
So his stepfather gave him a nudge, dismissed him from his fuel wholesaling chores, and urged him to pursue music on a full-time basis.
That was “one of the better days of my life,” Green recalled last week, on the phone while driving across Texas.
The 21 years since that day have been good to Green. He has released six albums since 2001 on both major and independent labels, had country hits with such songs as “Wave on Wave” and “Feels Just Like It Should,” and has been a frequent presence on concert stages, both as a headliner and as an opening act for the Dave Matthews Band, Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney, among others.
Green is headlining the latest “Red Dirt Revival” concert today at the Wild Things Park in North Franklin. A Texas-centric series, it’s an extension of the “Red Dirt Revival” radio show that airs Sunday nights at 9 on Pittsburgh radio station WDSY-FM (more commonly known as Y108). Two other Texas singers, Dalton Domino and Kody West, will be opening for Green.
After his initial run of success, Green returned to the independent world in 2015, releasing his most recent album, “Home,” on his own. It has guest appearances from Sheryl Crow, Delbert McClinton and Lyle Lovett.
Did Green feel any different not being part of the major-label rat race? Any less pressure?
“I don’t know that I felt very different in either situation,” said Green. “On RCA, I got on TV a lot more!”
Green is working on a new album, though only a few songs for it have been laid down, and there’s no release date being targeted. In the meantime, Green is the subject of a tribute album, “Dancehall Dreamin’,” which was released in April. It has covers of Green songs by such artists as William Clark Green (no relation), Aaron Watson and Kevin Fowler.
Green’s management team put it together, and Green confessed that “all it did was make me feel really old.”
During some downtime a couple of years ago, Green started painting and sculpting, and he’s since opened a gallery in Fort Worth, Texas, along with painter Ginger Walker and sculptor Ginger Hodge. The work of Green, Walker and Hodge is featured in the gallery, as well as work by other artists.
“My dreams are so big,” Green said. “When I was playing my tennis-racket guitar as a kid, I wasn’t playing at a coffeehouse, I was at Shea Stadium.”
The next concert in the “Red Dirt Revival” series is July 28, when headliner Jack Ingram will be joined by Koe Wetzel and local artist Todd Jones.
For information go to Y108.com/RedDirtRevival.