RILEY GREEN - Rather Be - Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment

As “Worst Way” and “Damn Good Day To Leave” are both simultaneously making impact on country radio, Riley Green now returns with “Rather Be,” his first new solo music since the release of his EP, Way Out Here.

Having been hanging around his live shows for the past year, the song quickly became a fan favorite and left his diehards clamoring for its official release. As such, the announcement he made on socials earlier this week that confirmed the long-awaited studio version’s arrival was met with a fervent cheer of giddiness.

Over its groove laden melodic flow, Green immediately gets the listener swaying along as he drops his undeniable drawl into a daydreamed checklist through each of the verses that tallies all the places he’d rather be then where he currently finds himself; 7 beers deep in a lawn chair with a beer in his hand, sitting in a pit blind with a lip full of tobacco, at his girls mama’s house watching reruns of Days Of Our Lives, etc.

With only a simple, 2-line chorus he then answers the burning question of why he’s daydreaming of his escape from the moment he’s in while injecting a strong audience participation into the song that instantly envisions a packed-out arena raising their arms into the air and floating them left to right in perfect rhythm as they scream along with him:

“When I hear you bitch at me

It makes me think of all the places I’d rather be”

With a sarcastic roll of his eyes, the bridge adds stark definition to his over it and done with it attitude, taking us directly into his current moment when he sings:

“Oh, let me hear it how I leave my clothes on the floor

Track dirt through the door

And don’t bother cleanin’ up

Let me hear ‘bout the guy you wish I was”

Riley Green is in a place in his career where each next song is being met with exuberant admiration, whether he’s tugging hearts with impactful tunes like “Jesus Saves” or giving us the nagging realities of relationship woes on a song like “Rather Be.” Regardless of which side of the line the song is falling on, Green seems to have found his niche in straddling both sides with the same gusto, delivering quality music that people want to hear with each next lyrical turn and addictive melody. 

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis/Artwork c/o Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment)