Sad Songs, Great Music: Riley Green on the Country Legend Who “Made You Want To Pull Over and Cry Driving Down the Road”

Riley Green’s love for country music runs deep. Following the release of the deluxe edition of his 2024 LP, Don’t Mind If I Do, the singer spoke to Country Living about his breakout year and what’s ahead.

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While fans may assume that love songs are Green’s thing—his two biggest tracks are the swoony “You Look Like You Love Me” and the sexy “Worst Way”—that’s actually not the case.

“Breakup songs always come pretty naturally to me. For some reason, it’s a lot harder for me to write love songs. I have to physically sit down and make myself do that,” Green told the outlet. “Breakup songs and sad country music have always been what I love about the genre as a whole.”

Green pointed to George Jones as one of his favorite examples of a great writer of sad songs.

“All the stories he told were so true to his life—it seemed like you really believed it—and they were all songs that made you want to pull over and cry driving down the road,” he noted.

Green definitely has plenty of breakup songs in his repertoire. In fact, on Don’t Mind If I Do (Deluxe), three of the six new tracks are about a breakup.

“It’s nice to be able to tie these songs into the album because it is doing so well,” Green said. “It’s the biggest thing we’ve put out in my career, so it’s nice to keep shining light on that project.”

Riley Green’s Tour and New Music

In addition to putting out new music, Green has been busy on the road. His Damn Country Music Tour is scheduled to run through Nov. 21, when he’ll wrap things up in Oklahoma.

“I’ve played shows for 12 years, and over 100 shows a year for that amount of time. Everything’s continued to grow, and the venues are getting bigger. They’re all selling out,” Green said. “We’re having more and more success with award shows and radio play, and it seems like the industry’s kind of bought into us.”

He added, “Although I’ve been doing it a long time, I’m still a new artist to some fans… and as a songwriter, it’s just really great to see that something that you’re doing musically is working and people are relating to the songs.”

As for what’s up next for the singer, he promised fans that “there’s definitely going to be some new music.”

“I’ve got a lot of songs that we’ve already got demoed and I’m really excited about. So we’ll start looking at a timeline for releasing new music and hopefully an album somewhere at the top of next year,” he said. “It’s a great time. It’s always nice when things seem like they’re working.”

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