By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
Pat Green has no illusions about where his career is these days.
He's had his huge moment in the sun as the leading Texas country star in the state and the country, helping spread the gospel of Lone Star music to Nashville during a controversial but lucrative period. He's had massive hits regionally and nationally since he launched his career while a student at Texas Tech University.
Now, he's seen as approaching elder statesman status — not yet at the iconic level, or at the advanced age, of a Jerry Jeff Walker or a Willie Nelson, but not burning up the charts either.
"When our band was popular, we were hugely popular on radio, and when we were putting out a record, people would stand in line for it," Green said. "Now, they want to hear (past hits) 'Southbound 35' and 'Wave on Wave'.
"That's the nature of being in the band business," Green said. "I'm glad I've gotten my dozen or so Top 40 hits.
"I'm more like a Jimmy Buffett or a James Taylor now. People want to come and hear the hits."
Green, in fact, said he's happy where he is now — back home in Texas, exercising other forms of creativity in the visual arts and, yes, still touring and still recording. He'll return July 3 to the Panhandle to headline the Kickin' It in Canyon concert as part of Canyon's Fourth of July celebrations. (For a complete list of area Fourth of July celebrations, click here.)
The concert begins at 7 p.m. July 3 at First United Bank Center at West Texas A&M University. Amarillo's Buster Bledsoe Band will open.
The show is exactly the kind of gig Green prefers.
"Playing on and around the holidays is always fun because that's when people are the most relaxed and the most ready to go," Green said. "Whatever you give them, they're going to be excited to get it."
Plus, he feels at home in this area of the state. Not only did he attend Tech, but his wife, Kori, is a Lockney native.
"West Texas, I get those people," Green said. "I love the no-nonsense (nature). ... There's no bullsh---ing those people. They can tell when you're faking it — and don't mind telling you."
The crowd will likely get a sneak peek of Green's new music as well as his biggest hits, including new single "Drinkin' Days" — which, though he didn't pen it himself, is a perfect distillation of his mindset these days.
"It's a spot-on match," Green said. "I call it my 'Rowdied Down' song, like (Hank Williams Jr.'s) 'All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down'."
The song — written by Jaron Boyer, Ben Burges and Phil Barton — is an ode to "those glory days and all the hell we raised."
"I can still raise 'em up / hang with the best of my friends / Don’t get me wrong, they still taste good / but not as good as they did back then / Back in those drinking days," Green sings.
The song was originally pitched to Eli Young Band, but Green said the band passed — and rightfully so.
"They haven't even started thinking about slowing down yet," Green laughed. "They're too young for a song like this."
"Drinkin' Days" encapsulates Green's thoughts about his career perfectly, he said.
"It's looking back nostalgically at some fantastic times in our lives — with some joy that it's over," he said, laughing.
Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the gate. Check here for ticket outlets.
Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
