By Andrew W. Griffin

pop writer

Calling pop to discuss his career and tonight's concert at Riverwind Casino, Pat Green interrupts as introductions are underway to tell his wife he will call her back.

On the other line, Green says, "OK. I'm on the phone. I'll talk to you soon. I love you. Bye."

Resuming his conversation with pop, Green says, "I'm sorry. My wife is in London and not with me. She didn't know I was doing an interview."

And that's just an example of Pat Green's life these days. A devoted family man with a wife and two children, the busy Texan is in the midst of a tour supporting his latest album, "What I'm For," released earlier this year on BNA Records.

Asked if his family accompanies him on tour, Green laughs and said that now with his second child, it doesn't happen often. He noted that when he plays big cities like Chicago or New York, his wife will be there with him.

"But if I'm in Des Moines or someplace smaller, she usually isn't there," said Green with a chuckle.

If anything, Green comes across as a good-natured guy who deeply loves the Lone Star State. These days he calls Fort Worth home, having spent a number of years in Austin and in Lubbock during his college years when he first got his start.

With this being his 11th release, Green said he is proud of "What I'm For."

Talking about his professional decision to take his sound national, Green said he had started to consider his music as "survival."

"I began to watch the guys who wouldn't dare sign with a national record label or once they did, did so begrudgingly," he said. "I now watch those guys being left behind. I'm not willing to watch my career go down that way. For me, I've simply had a great time recording music I'm proud of."

Starting out as a cult figure on the rootsy Texas/Red Dirt scene, in the past couple of years, Green has entered, and some say surpassed, the authentic and stratospheric territory of fellow Texas musicians like Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen and the late Townes Van Zandt.

Surpassed, in that he has been embraced by Nashville and has become quite successful in the process. Green has proven that Texas musicians can remain true to their origins and be accepted on the national level.