Hi, beautiful human. I'm Zach. That is Dan. And today we welcome to the studio country superstar Riley Green.

Yo! How y'all doing, man? We're doing. You know, honestly, man, we're doing. We're doing, you know?

I know what you mean. Yeah. How are you? Good, man. Just crazy busy right now. We're,

people always ask when the tour ends and it doesn't really end. You know, we kind of slow down around Thanksgiving and kind of have December, January, you know, hang out with the family and visit. And then we're right back on the road again. It's been a busy year. Yeah, your output, the creative output's crazy. Like, even this deluxe record, right?

You're putting out a deluxe record, and that's on top of the 18 songs that already exist.

Yeah, it's such a crazy time for music because more really is more in a lot of ways and fans can get music from some of different avenues now.

You know, when I was growing up, we were downloading and burning CDs, you know, so it's very different now how much you can, how much music you can put out. And for me, when things are going well, you know, I write all my songs, is I'm so motivated to write. When things are working, you want to go write and stay in that mindset and try to figure out what you're doing right. So instead of putting out another album this year, we decided to make it a deluxe and kind of keep shining light on Don't Mind If I Do because that album's been doing so well. And don't mind if I do is actually single at Country Radio now. So we're still, you know, running off of the momentum from that album. So it's five on top of 18. Yeah. That's 23 songs altogether. Yeah. Is there a song from this batch that resonates the strongest with you? Well, I really love, there's a song called Jesus Saves that was on the original album. And it's about a guy on the side of the road, a national Tennessee homeless guy, and it tells his story. He was a U.S. Army veteran.

It kind of goes through all these things that could happen in his life that put him in that situation. You know, I thought the message of that was really good. It was just that, you know, you don't really know what somebody's been through. And you're always quick to judge when you see somebody in that situation with their own drugs or they're alcoholic or whatever. and I tried to think of things that maybe if they happen to you, you might be in that same situation, you know, everyday problems. And it's been one that wasn't a single, wasn't a focus track of any kind, it's just a song that really raises hand fans, really relate to it. And I hear more stories about that one than any of them. How do you stumble upon this veteran? How do you find this story?

Well, it's made up. That's the thing. I struggle with the, you know, people hear it. They go, man, that had to have happened to you. And in a weird way, it's just me pulling up in Nashville Tennessee. And I saw this guy and he had a piece of cardboard and said, Jesus saves on it. And I thought, man, how tough would it be try to win somebody over from just what you can fit on a little piece of cardboard? You know, telling your whole life story, so to speak, to make somebody feel compassion. And I just kind of went on that journey and told the story. But it's not a true story in the sense of I didn't meet the guy. You know, I just kind of creatively inspired me to think about what might be his story.

Do you write with... story in the sense of I didn't meet the guy. You know, I just kind of creatively inspired me to think about what might be his story.

Do you write with, I mean, I'm assuming you write with the guitar or do you write with nothing? Yeah, I write with the guitar. I've struggled. A lot of people write with what they call a track guy, you know, and they'll kind of put a beat together. and I was really struggled with that.

I can't remember who it was,

but the first time I sat down in a room

with what they call a track guy,

I kind of had to say,

man, can you turn that off

until we get done with the summer? and I was, I've really struggled with that. I can't remember who it was, but the first time I sat down in a room with what they call a track guy,

I kind of had to say, man, can you turn that off till we get done with the song and then make a demo from it, you know? Yeah, usually I have to have a guitar there with me. You've said that, like, the appeal of country music is storytelling. obviously you're telling 23 individual stories but is there a story you're telling overall

with this album?

Or batch of songs or era, whatever?

Somewhat, I mean, I think that as far as the theme goes for the album, I think it's more of a musical theme.

You know, I think it's kind of how we went about recording in the studio.

...