Pat Green is another one of those rare birds from the great state of Texas, who could pack the Alamodome in San Antonio with 50,000 people on a given night. But once outside of the Red Dirt Trail, you'll find him playing some larger clubs to sold out audiences across the rest of the United States.
Pat Green's musical story begins in 1995, when he began performing shows in the clubs and bars around Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. With his success and following growing over time, Pat recorded and released 3 studio albums on his own label. He caught the attention of Willie Nelson, who soon featured him on his 4th of July Picnic. This would be Pat's first big break toward national stardom, as he soon gained a major sponsorship deal in Texas and was able to sell 250,000 copies of his albums ... all of this prior to signing a contract with a major record label. It wasn't until 2003, with the release of "Wave on Wave" that the rest of North America would come to know what Texas had known for nearly 10 years ... that Pat Green was a uniquely talented artist who's sound was unlike anything heard on the radio at that time (or any time, for that matter). "Wave on Wave" would reach #3, and become Pat Green's first gold album, selling over 500,000 copies.
Subsequent releases as "Lucky Ones", "Cannonball", and "What I'm For" would not spawn a chart hit as big at "Wave on Wave", although the singles "Feels Just Like it Should" and "Let Me" would come close to the top 10, peaking at number 13 and 12, respectively.
When listening to Pat Green, you're going to hear an artist who may be difficult to categorize, which is why I think he may not have had the success at radio that he should have had. If you visit Pat's web site, check out the Music section and you will be able to hear samples of all the tracks on all of his albums. This music is pure Texas country. It simply stirs up the soul, and makes you feel good listening to it.
I still believe Pat Green has a lot of success in mainstream country music ahead of him, but I believe that perhaps his greatest legacy will be the introduction to the Texas music scene to the rest of North America and the world. Were it not for Pat Green being signed by Republic Records, and later BNA Records, Cross Canadian Ragweed may not have been signed by Universal South ... Jack Ingram may not have been signed to Big Machine Records. When Pat Green was introduced to the mainstream, the whole musical world outside of the Red Dirt Trail that exists in Texas and Oklahoma was able to sit up and take notice of the great, unique music that is being produced in that region.
Pat is still promoting his fellow Texas singers on his current tour. Opening for Pat during this weeks swing through the Northeastern United States is Wade Bowen, an artist whom I've mentioned in this space previously as the opening act for Cross Canadian Ragweed's final show in Chicago in October (to read a review of that show, click here). Pat and Wade will be playing the following dates this coming week and weekend:
Washington, DC
Wednesday February 23, 2011
8:00pm Showtime
Boston, Mass.
Thursday February 24, 2011
9:00pm Showtime
New York, New York
Friday February 25, 2011
8:00 Showtime
Baltimore, Md.
Saturday February 26, 2011
8:00 Showtime
I'll be at the show in Boston this Thursday, so be on the lookout for a concert review on Friday morning from Boston, Massachusetts. Speaking of Wade Bowen, I'll be talking about him in my next piece on Wednesday as we build up to the big show on Thursday night. Take care everyone!
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