Riley Green is a tough, no-frills country boy, but you can see the hurt as he sings "In Love by Now," his new country radio single. The newest Taste of Country RISER's acoustic performance could become your new favorite song.

"In Love by Now," a mid-tempo, punch-in-the-shoulder kind of country heartbreaker, is the follow-up to Green's chart-topping debut single "There Was This Girl." The Alabama native wrote the song with Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip and Marv Green and says he went in with the mindset of writing a Shenandoah song.

"I always kind of went into those (meetings with established artists) with a little competition chip on my shoulder, like, 'Man I really wanna win these guys over so they'll write with me some more,'" Green recalls. "Knowing what era they came from, I remember saying, 'I wanna write something like 'Two Dozen Roses' by Shenandoah' and they all started fumbling for their guitars."

Green's simple '90s country sensibilities stand out among a crop of newcomers and veterans trying to take the country genre to the limits. Credit his grandfather for teaching him all about Merle Haggard, and his father for playing old songs by the Band and classic country pickers.

"He had an old 8-track of John Anderson's 'Just a-swingin' that I used to dance to as a kid. There's a lot of videos of that I'm sure will surface as my career continues," he says, smiling.

"She's probably in love by now / A girl like that don't stay lonely long," Green sings at the chorus, "And I bet she's already found / Somebody else and he ain't doin' her wrong / Wouldn't do no good even if I could somehow track her down / She's probably in love right now."

"It was about a girl who was probably a little too good for me and I didn't act right and she went on her own way," Green admits. "I probably had those thoughts of maybe calling her and texting her one night and thought, 'Well, she's probably found somebody else.'"

The Alabama native cut his teeth playing clubs in bars in college and afterward. Songwriting came out of sheer boredom from playing cover songs, and the first time the audience erupted for one of his originals, it shocked him. The song was called "Bury Me in Dixie" and to date it's got well over 10 million streams on Spotify, YouTube and other digital platforms.

"In Love by Now" is a new fan favorite and Green has had plenty of opportunities to perfect it. Brad Paisley, Jon Pardi and Justin Moore are among the stars who've taken him on the road. In September Green will begin his headlining Get That Man a Beer Tour, named after his new EP.

Green is the third Taste of Country RISERS rising act of 2019, joining Jimmie Allen and Cody Johnson. Over the next few months you'll learn all about his raising and path to Nashville, plus hear an important cover song and find out where his heart is: University of Alabama or Auburn University. In becoming a RISERS artist he joins established hitmakers like Brett YoungMorgan WallenRunaway June and Lindsay Ell.

Who Is Riley Green? 

See 50 Essential '90s Country Songs: 

See 50 Essential '90s Country Songs

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