Pat Green Defends Mainstream Country Music

Texas native Pat Green has received his fair share of criticism for uprooting his wildly successful regional career for Nashville's Music Row ties, but the 'Wave on Wave' singer adamantly defends his decision to go mainstream, citing the exposure he received as a major label recording artist.

"I experienced a great deal of success there [Nashville]," Pat tells MyWestTexas. "It's difficult to make music for a large company, because they are spending millions to make you famous. My humble opinion is that if someone is going to spend millions of dollars to make me money, then I'm going to listen to their opinion. Like it or not, I'm going to listen to it.

"A lot of times I stood on the desk and stomped my feet," the singer continues. "I did that at the appropriate moment, and they forced my hand a time or two. But everybody for the most part made their best bet. I totally understand why there are numerous people who come out of record labels and feel like they got spit out. At the same time, there are a lot stories like mine where we had some huge hits."

At the height of his commercial success, Pat received his first Top 5 hit in 2003 with 'Wave on Wave,' with the album of the same name selling more than a half-million copies. The singer followed up that success with two Top 20 singles, 'Feels Just Like It Should' and 'Let Me.' His 2009 album, 'What I'm For,' was his last as a major-label recording artist.

As for his next career move, Pat reveals, "I'm signing with a company that is going to allow me to butter my own muffin, if you will. I don't have to make corporate music anymore. I'm kind of past that point in my life. The music that made the most headway for me were songs that no record label would touch. I had to pretty much force-feed them on that stuff."

He hasn't disclosed the name of the label or when new music will be available, but in the meantime Pat continues to tour. Click here to view his concert schedule.