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Born in San Antonio and raised in Waco, 3-time Grammy nominee Pat Green, who was influenced by fellow Texans Willie Nelson and Robert Earl Keen among others, began writing songs while attending Texas Tech University. He borrowed money from his parents to make his first album, Dancehall Dreamer; it didn’t take him long to pay it back. But he didn’t make music a career until his stepfather fired him from his job as a fuel wholesaler, realizing Green would never follow his muse unless pushed. Green took his time entering the big leagues—not because he was forced to wait till someone wanted him, but because he was content to do it his own way.

A favorite among the “college country” crowd—fans of rockin’ country music you can party to—he managed to sell more than 200,000 albums on his own. But eventually, he realized independent distribution meant many fans couldn’t get his albums in the places where he was playing, so he finally signed a major-label deal, releasing Three Days in 2001 on Universal’s Republic imprint. In 2003, he made Wave on Wave—which went to No. 2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, propelled by the hit title song. He followed that with the No. 6-ranking Lucky Ones before moving to RCA’s BNA label for 2006’s Cannonball and 2009’s What I’m For, both of which hit No. 2 on the country albums chart. In 2008, Green released the book, Dance Halls & Dreamers, a loving chronicle of Texas’ country music halls.