Pat Green was born in San Antonio and raised in Waco, Texas, the eighth of
nine siblings. His father was a stage actor, and Green fell in love with the
musicals his father acted in.Pat Green
Pat Green was born in San Antonio and raised in Waco, Texas, the eighth of
nine siblings. His father was a stage actor, and Green fell in love with the
musicals his father acted in.
Green began his musical career when he was 18 and in college at Texas Tech in Lubbock. "I started playing guitar to pick up the chicks," Green laughs. "Before that, I only sang in the shower. I could mimic other people's voices. It took me a long time to find my own voice, but once I did, I became very comfortable with it. It's not real pretty but it's believable."
During those college years, Green started playing clubs and opening shows for other artists. In 1995, he put out his first independent record.
"Natalie Maines from the Dixie Chicks sang on our first record and she wasn't a Dixie Chick yet," Green says. "It was pretty cool. Since then we've recorded five more records including one duet record with Cory Morrow, which charted on the Billboard country chart." Soon, Green was a regular on the Texas dance hall circuit, playing to sold-out crowds all over the Lone Star state.
Green admits he took the long and winding road to get his first major-label record deal this far along in his career. He has been touring incessantly since 1995 and sold nearly 200,000 independently-released records. He is a legitimate star in Texas who sells out every venue in his home state, even the cavernous Billy Bob's in Fort Worth. And he has done it all on his own. It's a rare accomplishment in the music business and one that made the powers-that-be from New York to Nashville stand up and take notice. When the majors finally came calling, it was Republic/Universal Records that understood what Green was all about.
"When we met with Republic Records, it was a natural connection for me," Green says. "I didn't want people telling me what songs were going to be on my record and what musicians were going to play on them. I wanted it to be my band, my songs, my sound and my comfort level. I'm not here to buck the system, either. I'm just a guy who likes my job and wants to continue doing it. Republic had complete faith in me which blew my doors down."
The result of that faith is Green's 2001 major-label debut, Three Days. Green wrote or co-wrote nine of the 13 tracks on the record with noted songwriters like Radney Foster, Walt Wilkins and Mark Winston Kirk.
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