A big debut for Riley Green… the biggest of his career.
The Alabama native just released his new album That’s Just Me last week, which features a pretty lengthy 19-song tracklist. It also features collaborations with Hannah McFarland, Jake Worthington, Alabama’s Randy Owen, and my personal favorite, Brooks & Dunn.
Riley’s career has blown up over the last several years, and while all artists evolve, he hasn’t changed who he is fundamentally as an artist. Fans can always count on him to deliver really quality songs with beautiful lyrics and great production, and that’s what he delivered here.
In addition to consistently putting out great music, Riley is an artist who basically stays on the road year round, and I think that has a lot to do with his current success. He’s spent years and years putting on shows all over the country, earning fans by delivering concerts that never disappoint, and I think that organic connection with his fans is paying off in a huge way now.
With the first week of That’s Just Me officially in the books, Riley earned his highest charting album ever and first ever top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart, which came in at #3 on the all-genre chart:
It’s impressive, to say the least, and I think it’s safe to say Riley has officially crossed over far beyond just the country genre. Thanks to hits like “you look like you love me” with Ella Langley, and national exposure on The Voice which just kicked off, Riley’s becoming a household name and he certainly makes country music look good (in every sense of the phrase, obviously).
Before the album was released, Riley sat down for an interview with sports personality Pat McAfee for Spotify, and he reflected on his success thus far and what his strategy was for this next record.
Of course, the challenge is always to stay true to who you are as an artist, while also keeping the music fresh and exciting for fans. Riley has always been a rare mainstream artist who sticks to that decidedly country sound.
And even with his massive success, he tries to always include songs about his life in “small town Alabama” and things like that, which he’s written about since the beginning:
“Every year that things are going well and it grows and things get bigger, I always tend to make sure I find a way to write from that same place that got me here. Which is just small town Alabama where I grew up.
So I always try to go home and write, at least four or five songs that are going to be on every record from that mindset of just how I grew up and my family values, like I said, things I wrote about from the beginning.”
There are so many great songs on the tracklist, I love “Beach Happy” and his duet with Brooks & Dunn “Pave All Them Red Dirt Roads”, and of course, fans have been very much into decoding “P.O.S.” because of the Megan Moroney connection.
I’ve been a fan of Riley’s for years now, I remember seeing him at Coyote Joe’s years back to a less-than-sold out crowd, so to see him now as one of the genres biggest stars is incredibly cool, though I can’t say I’m surprised at all.
This is just the beginning for him, and if you haven’t checked out his new album you’re missing out… I’ll leave some of my favorites below.
“P.O.S.”
“Beach Happy”
“Pave All Them Red Dirt Roads ft. Brooks & Dunn”
He also just announced his extensive 2027 That’s Just Me tour, named for the new album, and I have to imagine he’ll be adding more dates at some point too.
That’s Just Me Tour Dates
April 1 – Spokane, Washington
April 2 – Seattle, Washington
April 3 – Eugene, Oregon
April 8 – Edmonton, Alberta
April 9 – Calgary, Alberta
April 10 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
April 29 – Raleigh, North Carolina
April 30 – Knoxville, Tennessee
May 1 – Greenville, South Caroline
May 6 – Fort Worth, Texas
May 7 – Wichita, Kansas
May 8 – Rogers, Arkansas
May 20 – Tulsa, Oklahoma
May 21 – Dallas, Texas
May 22 – Lafayette, Louisiana
June 3 – Brandon, Mississippi
June 4 – Orange Beach, Alabama
June 10 – Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
June 11 – Toronto, Ontario
June 18 – Gilford, New Hampshire
June 25 – Clarkston, Michigan
July 15 – Syracuse, New York
July 16 – Allentown, Pennsylvania
July 22 – Columbia, Maryland
July 23 – Bethel, New York
July 24 – Mansfield, Massachusetts
July 29 – Evansville, Indiana
July 30 – St. Louis, Missouri
July 31 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
