Speaking with Billboard, RileyGreenMusic reflects on making his new EP during the pandemic and his ACM win.
I wanted to continue to let people know more of who I am. I think it's a continuation of my story, and how I was brought up and some of the values that I have as not only a country music singer but also as a southerner growing up from a small town in Alabama.
. How did you celebrate being named the ACM Awards’ new male artist and what does winning mean to you in terms of boosting confidence? Winning ACM’s new male artist of the year was something that I honestly never dreamed of -- just being nominated was an accomplishment to me. So it's definitely something that has given me a little bit of validation, that people are buying into me not only as a as a country music artist but as a person. And to have something that's voted on by so many influential people in the music industry, it keeps you going -- and makes you want to write more music, put out more music and keep the momentum rolling. You just launched the four-part Golden Saw Music Hall series, which will raise money for ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund. How did you pick your guests, and how emotional is it for you that the venue is your great grandparents’ former home-turned-venue? The Golden Saw Music Hall series is something that's definitely very personal to me. With it being at my great grandparents' house, where I first learned how to play and got my first opportunity to get on a stage of some sort, it means a lot. As far as how I pick guests -- it’s really just people that I'm a fan of. It's songwriters that I write with, and also people that I think can tell a good story. I’ve always enjoyed hearing the story behind songs, so it's a good place to share that with people.Randy Owen went to Jacksonville State, where I went to school and played football. That’s where our relationship began by doing a benefit concert for the university after a tornado. I sent him the song and he said he was a big fan of it and wanted to cut it with me, so we were able to go to Dann Huff's house and record it in his studio. It was a pretty special thing to get to do this song with somebody that I’ve idolized for so long growing up.“Behind the Times” is a song about an era when I think people learned from a different generation. I grew up learning from my grandaddies and some of the values they had -- although [they] maybe aren't as relevant today -- I think are still pretty important, and I don't think you see that as much anymore. I don't think people go and talk to somebody that's been on this earth for 80 years. I think now they go Google how to do something, or YouTube it. So, the song is definitely about a generation that lived in a simpler time and how they valued things.All the recording was done during the pandemic. I obviously spent a lot of time in Jacksonville, but we also came to Nashville where we were able to be socially distant and still get our EP recorded in the studio. It was a little different, but we were still able to get it done -- and I’m thankful to those musicians and Dann Huff for making the time. This is the first half of an album that will come later. A lot of artists are putting out albums in two pieces. Why are you doing it? Is the rest already written? I think that a lot of artists are doing that now, because it's such a time-consuming thing to go in the studio for several days. When you're on the road constantly, it's tough to find those times, and you also are probably not going to write an entire record at once. So it's a way of going and putting out music and keeping your fans listening, giving them something new to hear -- but also giving you time to go write and try to come up with the best possible songs you can for that project.I’ve been in touch with a lot of artists, done some Zoom writes and some podcasts. I did a podcast withand we’ve been talking about trying to get in the studio. The thing is, you've got time to do a lot of recording right now. So a lot of that talk has been going on, and it's a good opportunity to try to find time to cut new music.The first piece of music that I can think of that I bought for myself would probably be aWhat was the first concert you saw?concert in Birmingham. Not that I was a big KISS fan, but one of my buddy's dads was a big KISS guy. I kind of decided to go in the other direction with my career, I guess. Who made you realize you could be an artist full-time and what did you learn from being an athlete that helped prepare you to be an artist? I don't know that there was really a moment or a person that helped me realize I could have a career in country music. I think it was a lot of fan feedback and success with some of the songs that I'd written. Playing a little bit of college football definitely helped, in the sense of giving me some accountability and setting goals for myself. I probably use a lot of those lessons I learned on a football field in what I'm doing today.There's a lot of things that were on my bucket list that I've already accomplished. Playing the Ryman was very close to the top, so getting to do that will be hard to beat for me.My hometown comes out in a lot of my songs. Growing up where I did, and having family as close as I did, definitely helped shape me not only as a person but as a songwriter, and I think you hear that in a lot of my music.. I like a lot of his newer stuff. He does a good job of straddling the line of traditional and contemporary.I’d probably have to go with . I took my grandmother to see him at probably one of his last concerts, and that was a pretty special thing. He's a little larger-than-life to me.There's not a lot of fights at my shows, but a girl fight is always a lot more tense than guys fighting. It seems like it’s a lot easier to break up when two guys are going at it, but a girl fight seems to get a little more intense.song would be something I might try.about a week ago and that one almost got me. At the very end when the dad hugs the guy… that’s pretty serious.on Netflix and that was pretty hard for me to turn off. Then I started flying and traveling all the time, so I would just watch it on repeat. That's one of my favorites.I would just say constantly write songs. When things get busy and you're on the road and you don't really want to fool with it, it would be nice to have a big stockpile of songs -- and that’s something, hopefully, that I’ll be needing to put out for several years to come.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Green Party nominee gets zero percent of searches for 2020 candidatesGoogle Trends' U.S. Elections in Search 2020 data suggests users are showing little interest in Howie Hawkins.
Read more »
Which ACM Awards Performance Are You Most Excited to See? Vote!The Academy of Country Music Awards and just around the corner, with an all-star lineup of performers.
Read more »
These Countries Could Receive $21 Billion To Go Green ... But Continue Burning CoalSeven European nations that are to be awarded billions of dollars to help them go carbon neutral are planning to stick with coal-fired electricity generation until at least 2030, a new report has revealed.
Read more »
How Well Do You Know the ACM Awards & Country Music? Try Our 20-Question QuizThe 55th annual Academy of Country Music Awards will finally air on Wednesday night (Sept. 16).
Read more »
Biden leads Trump in Pennsylvania polls, as Democrats fail to force Green candidate off ballotTrump won the state in a surprise victory last time out, with Biden aiming to reclaim it in November.
Read more »
Lady In GreenA co-founder of the citizen-led organisation IAmGurgaon, she left a career in banking to focus on transforming the privately developed North Indian city from an inefficiently run eyesore into a residential oasis. Latika Thukral tells us about the various environmental efforts she has been spearheading for over a decade.
Read more »