Drew Green? Yeah, he’s one of those dirt boys. Dirt, land and flowers seem to follow singer/songwriter Green like bees to honey. Or like Pigpen from the Peanuts who’s always happiest with his dust storm. Green’s family farm grows trees. One of his first paid gig’s had orchid in the title and his management company’s name has corn in the name. 

While the humble-sounding Green talks about the types of trees his family grows and sells on their farm (maple, dogwoods and more) in McMinnville, Tenn., it’s his songs that are laying the groundwork for an evergreen career. Green’s new EP Dirt Boy Vol. 1 is out September 18. Fans have already heard Green’s debut single “Little More Be Alright” and the follow-up “Right Where I Be”. Seven additional tracks capture Green’s relentless writing skills and unearth an artist that has finely tuned his true sound. 

He’s landed in the right spot, and his roots continue to grow deeper by the day.

“I owe a lot to growing up on a farm,” Green said. “My manager Brett, he calls me a dirt boy. I think my work ethic and the amount of songs I had brought to the table before others coming out of the gate.”

A prolific writer, Green is no stranger to the Nashville songwriting community. He co-wrote the song, “Colorado” with Michael Hardy and Hunter Phelps. The song later became a hit for Florida Georgia Line. And in a meant-to-be way, the song also helped Green get a publishing deal with Warner/Chappel Nashville and Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James’ company, Cornman Music, would sign as a management client. This was all happening in 2018, when at the time, Green was a house band singer at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge in Nashville. 

Making that transition from singing covers to performing his own music surprised Green. 

“It was almost like a whole new gig, I was playing four nights a week, four-hour shows,” Green, who’s Plan B was working at a bank, said. “It’s a whole new type of adrenaline, a whole new type of feeling to play your own songs.”

In “Little More Be Alright”, Green sings got sun on my face, on the riverbank, dirt on my cup, fish on the plug…I’m a simple man, I don’t need a lot, I’m good right here, with what I’ve got, but a little more, a little more be alright. His honest timbre, his modest tone is bolstered from the moving echoey bedrock. Green wrote the song with Producer Mark Trussell. 

“It felt like me more than anything that I had heard, that it was a good country song, ballad about life growing up and just being thankful for what you have. It really felt like that day was the complete transition between Drew the songwriter to Drew Green the artist,” Green said, on choosing “Little More Be Alright” for his debut single. 

In “Right Where I Be” Green’s crooning vocals open up to a sing along country rap. He incorporates a different vibe – more of the eclectic musical playlist he grew up listening to (everything from hip hop to country). Co-written with Trussell and Zach Dyer, “Right Where I Be” has a slurpy music bed, and broader bass rhythm. What I got bumpin’ in the back of my ride, toes dipping in the river on my tailgate…instead of this middle of nowhere little map dot, I’ve got everything I need, long as my baby wanna be right, right where I be, right where I be, Green sings. 

Green’s stylings on Dirt Boy Vol. 1 range from the romantic “She Got That” to the slow mover, “Fine By Me” to the pull-over interlude “Money Don’t Sleep” to hip-hop laced “Dirty Money”. “Woods” is also an instant earworm. Starting out with a twangy, steel-guitar, Green’s flow is irresistible. Take me to the woods, way out in the country…mud on every tire, barb on every wire, Green sings. At the song’s bridge point, a hushed banjo and embellished percussion covers the musical landscape.

“I wrote ‘Woods’ three years ago my with my boys who have dedicated a lot of their time to my career so it was a no brainer for me,” Green said. “Plus it’s one of my mom’s favorites.

With seven songs recorded and ready to roll out, Green has continued writing on a daily basis, including pivoting to Zoom group writing sessions. 

“Whatever feels right that day, I’ve never set down trying to write somebody, or a certain vibe,” Green said about songwriting. “It’s more about if I’m writing with other people what that vibe is that day. It does take a while to find that sound and that vibe that you think people are going to like.” 

To be fair, he does take some time away from writing. He’s a husband (he met his wife on the first day of college at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tenn.), and is a father. He’s also a gamer. 

“I play a lot of video games, that’s the one thing I can do that takes my mind off of music,” Green, who plays the new Call of Duty, Apex Legends and some streaming games on PlayStation, said. “Having that little shut-off moment for a few hours, usually  Sundays or Sunday nights, and it’s like a reset button for me. I’ve always been a video gamer. 

He’s also recently started the paleo diet with his wife, and swiped Red Bull sugar free to coffee (to keep his heart pumping for writing, he said).

“Wings are my favorite food. I’m trying, I’m trying. It’s pretty hard,” Green, who misses pizza, said. “I do love meat, do love fruit, veggies.”

While the touring world has pressed pause, he’s also mentally adjusting.

“Rather than being upset about it or talking about what could have happened,” Green said. “I’ve just been writing like crazy, which I was already writing like crazy….talk about what next batch of songs we will record. I don’t know what the tour schedule will look like, but I will be touring as soon as I can. Whenever they give me the green light, I’ll be ready.”