Riley Green will release his debut album, Different ‘Round Here, this Friday, September 20th. Prior to signing his record deal with BMLG Records, Riley recorded and released a lot of music independently, and he says, “The way I did it was as I wrote a song, I just released it. And so my fans got used to gettin’ a lot of music really quickly, and I know that the buildup for this full-length record has been a pretty exciting thing for all them, and it certainly has for me, so it’ll be really cool to get this whole project out and let ‘em hear it.”
Some of the songs will be familiar to Riley’s longtime fans, because they’re songs he’s been playing in his live shows for years, but he says, “I’m excited about everybody hearing the recording of (them). But there’s also some songs on there that I haven’t played. Our band hasn’t even learned yet, so it’ll be really cool for them to get … some stuff that they have no idea about.”
The album is a collection of songs that express Riley’s experiences in life and his perspective of the world because he says, “One thing I noticed when I came to Nashville was, there’s a lot of talent here. And there’s a lot of people writin’ songs and a lot of country music singers that sing better than me, are better looking than me, they’re taller, or got nicer boots, or whatever it is. So, for me to set myself apart, I think the best thing you can be in this day and age is different, musically.”
Not having grown up around the music business or Nashville, and not even growing up dreaming about being a singer, Riley says, “My influences were really from back home. They were from a different place, and that was one thing that stood out to me about ‘Different ‘Round Here,’ was that that song kinda captured that idea of, this is who I am, this is where I’m from, this is the kind of things are important to me. It may be a little bit different but that’s just how I am.”
While the songs on Different ‘Round Here are about Riley and his life experiences he’s hopeful that people will relate to them in their own way. He says, “Hopefully, a lot of people grew up the same way and have some of the same values. And that’s kinda what I hope in my songwriting is, it’s about my life, it’s about personal experiences but maybe somebody can relate to it and maybe I can tell ‘em a story about my life that’ll make ‘em feel a certain way.”
One song that is very personal to Riley on his new album, that is resonating deeply with a lot of people, is his latest single, “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.”
Riley Green – talks about his new album :52
“Well, one thing I noticed when I came to Nashville was, there’s a lot of talent here. And there’s a lot of people writin’ songs and a lot of country music singers that sing better than me, are better looking than me, they’re taller, or got nicer boots, or whatever it is. So, for me to set myself apart, I think the best thing you can be in this day and age is different musically. And I’ve never spent a lot of time up here, so my influences were really from back home. They were from a different place, and that was one thing that stood out to me about ‘Different ‘Round Here,’ was that that song kinda captured that idea of this is who I am, this is where I’m from, this is the kind of things are important to me. It may be a little bit different but that’s just how I am. And that’s kind of overall gist to this record and hopefully, a lot of people grew up the same way and have some of the same values. And that’s kinda what I hope in my songwriting is, it’s about my life, it’s about personal experiences but maybe somebody can relate to it and maybe I can tell ‘em a story about my life that’ll make ‘em feel a certain way.”
Riley Green – excited about for fans :23
“There’s some songs that I’ve played out that are some fan favorites that I’m excited about everybody hearing the recording of, but there’s also some songs on there that I haven’t played. Our band hasn’t even learned yet, so it’ll be really cool for them to get a whole project that’s got not only some stuff that they’ve fellin’ (sic) in love with, but also some stuff that they have no idea about. One of the cool things about this record I keep saying is, it’s got a lot of different types of songs on it and it will be my first complete project. You know, I put out a lot of EP’s and singles over the years but to have a full record’ll be pretty cool.”
Riley Green – anticipation for album :18
“You know, I put a lot of music prior to signing a record deal. The way I did it was as I wrote a song, I just released it. And so my fans got used to gettin’ a lot of music really quickly, and I know that the buildup for this full-length record has been a pretty exciting thing for all them, and it certainly has for me, so it’ll be really cool to get this whole project out and let ‘em hear it.”