Country music rising star Drew Green spent years playing shows just steps from the world-famous Ryman Auditorium, playing covers and paying his dues in the honky-tonks of Nashville and dreaming of a day he could play such a grand stage.
And on Oct. 10, he finally did.
“I’ve actually had tickets to go (to the Ryman), but once I realized I was signing the record deal, I figured at some point I would be playing there,” he tells Taste of Country of his show at the almighty Mother Church. “And so, I figured I’d wait, you know?”
So yes, Green’s October show at the Ryman alongside “To Us It Did” singer and tour headliner Mitchell Tenpenny was not only the first time he’s played at the Ryman, but it’s also the first time he has ever even walked in the place.
“It was the most nervous I’ve been in a long time,” says Green, who’s sharing an exclusive photo diary of the career-altering night with Taste of Country. “I mean, country music lives there. And the sound is so amazing, too.”
Indeed, it was a very big night for Green, which called for a very special outfit.
“I would call it urban camo,” he says with a laugh of the jacket he chose to wear at the show. “To be honest, I don’t have a big variety of options.”
Before the show, Green says that things were pretty status quo, as the show ended up being one of the many that he has done during this somewhat pandemic-altered year. So, the setlist that was established and the prayers that were said before the concert was pretty much the same as nights past, except for one special song.
“I ended up doing an acoustic song called ‘Scarecrow’ halfway through that kind of has to do with me growing up on the farm,” the Tennessee native explains. “It’s kind of a new song, but the hook is basically about how I’ve come a long way from singing to the scarecrows.”
Green was also sure to play his addictive song “She’s Got That,” which already has garnered over 14.3 million streams on Spotify.
“We always play that song right off the bat so people can be like, ‘Oh yeah, I know that song,’” Green says. “If you’re a country fan, you might’ve heard that one, you know? Because half of my set, no one’s even heard ever.”
And while Green and Tenpenny usually don’t have much time on tour days to chat about that night’s show, the two rising stars did get to chat before taking the stage at the Ryman.
“(Tenpenny) was basically like, ‘We got to go out and party tonight,’” says Green, who recently released Dirt Boy Vol. 2 along with impressive tracks “Cold Beer and Copenhagen” and “Hooch.”
“He said, ’Because we’re both going to kill it tonight, and that’s going to be awesome.”
And so, they did, with both Green and Tenpenny and some select friends heading to The Twelve Thirty Club, a dazzling venue in Nashville owned by Justin Timberlake.
“We got a little room and we had dinner and I made sure my band got to invite some of their families, too,” says Green, who also had a bunch of family in town to celebrate the career milestone. “Nobody in my band had played the Ryman before, either, so it was a big deal for everyone.”
Green’s Dirt Boy Vol. 2 is currently available via a variety of digital music providers. Scroll through the gallery below to see his exclusive pictures from his big Ryman debut.
PICTURES: Drew Green Shares Exclusive Mitchell Tenpenny Tour Diary
Country music rising star Drew Green spent years playing shows just steps from the world-famous Ryman Auditorium, playing covers and paying his dues in the honky-tonks of Nashville and dreaming of a day he could play such a grand stage.