Riley Green grabbed a stool at the end of a long line of new artists being recognized at the Opry NextStage Class of 2025 event at the Grand Ole Opry House Tuesday night and showed the private audience that he isn’t next – he’s now. And he’s ready to rip your heart out with just his guitar, a lyric, and an undeniable story song that would make any country icon jealous.
Green strummed through “Jesus Saves” – a poignant song that nearly left host Pam Tillis speechless.
“Oh my gosh,” Tillis said. “What a song. I gotta know … who are some of your songwriting heroes. What a hook! What an idea! A great song starts with a great idea, and that just tore me up.”
Green joked that he “wrote that song on the way over here tonight.”
Tillis quipped: “Then I’m quitting.”
Videos by American Songwriter
Riley Green’s “Jesus Saves” Details Life of a Homeless Man
“Jesus Saves” tells the story of a man who drove past a homeless man holding a sign that said, “Jesus Saves.” He pulled over and asked the man what happened in his life that put him in this position. The man said his father had left his mother, and then his mother died of cancer when he was still a child. He went to war, but when he returned to the United States, the country wasn’t welcoming. In the following verses, the man explains he lost his job when the factory closed. The Army stopped sending checks, and he lost everything. The listener learns that his beloved brother died in a motorcycle accident and that he and his ex-wife planned to name their baby after his brother, but his baby died, too.
The chorus is: It’s hard to see all that drivin’ by| So I just write down, “Jesus Saves” | ‘Cause there ain’t no way I can fit that on a sign| There ain’t no way to fit that on a sign
Green wrote “Jesus Saves” alone. The song is the opening track on his seven-song Way Out Here EP.
Green said he was a big Merle Haggard fan growing up, and his Grandaddy Buford was a huge country music fan. The Alabama native grew up singing Roy Acuff’s “The Great Speckled Bird” and “Wreck on the Highway.”
Pam Tillis Thought Tucker Wetmore was Riley Green
“I definitely was inspired by somebody I saw, and the message of that song is that you don’t know what somebody has been through,” Green said. “I wanted to talk about things in that song that were pretty tough and that if they happened to you, you might end up in the same situation. Maybe it would make you a little more considerate or compassionate when you see someone in a bad situation. Hopefully, it’s a good message.”
Green said “Jesus Saves” is “definitely one that means a lot to me.”
Tillis didn’t wear her glasses and mistook Wetmore for Green, drawing chuckles from the industry audience.
Green was part of the event where Jelly Roll helped reveal Dasha, Tigirlily Gold, Avery Anna, Tucker Wetmore, Chayce Beckham, Kaitlin Butts and Kashus Culpepper are Opry NextStage Class of 2025.
He was named an Opry NextStage artist in 2019.
“I said this before, and I mean it,” Jelly Roll said. “There is no greater co-sign in country music than the Grand Ole Opry. While they are celebrating 100 years of creating the genre of country music, the Opry is still creating superstars today. Today they are still taking young acts and putting them out there and believing in people early and taking chances and being risky. The Opry grows with genre. The Opry is like, ‘Yes! More people. Different people. Bring in the face tattoo guy. We believe in them. I’m just honored I get to do it.”
(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for CMT)
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.