Ryan SmithEven though Riley Green wishes he was on the road playing for his fans, he admits 2020 has been a great chance to catch up on a lot of life he’s missing, after his whirlwind success of the past couple years. 

“I’m not far removed from just being a fan…” the ACM New Male Artist of the Year insists. “To fall back into being at home with my family around and all that, it was super easy for me.”

“My house back in Jacksonville, [Alabama],” he explains, “I built in March of 2018. I moved in, I signed my record deal and publishing deal the next month, and then I went on the road.”

The past few months have afforded the “There Was This Girl” hitmaker the chance to catch up on some chores, and reflect on his success.

“I had time to what I wanted to,” Riley says, “to get to do things around the house, and get these projects done that I’ve been thinking about while I’m on the road, getting to go back fishing, getting my old truck running, those type of things.”

“That’s really been a positive,” he continues. “And… maybe just get on YouTube, and watch videos of me playing in these arenas with Jason Aldean and twenty-thousand people, and go, ‘Man, I did that.'”

The former house-framer’s also been being constructive, quite literally.

“The first day back, me and my dad built a gym in my barn,” he recalls. “Then we built a lean-to out the back of it…”

“I got to ride my tractor around. I built a garage for some of my cars that don’t run, to act like I’m working on ’em,” he jokes. 

Riley’s most recent hit, “I Wish Grandpas Never Died,” was just certified Platinum.

By Stephen Hubbard
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.