William Clark Green, or Will as his friends call him (but don’t let his mother hear you), is a singer-songwriter originally from Flint, Texas. Green moved to College Station when he was thirteen. Soon after moving, he learned how to play guitar and soon after that, he started writing songs and he has not stopped writing since. New England Country Music had the opportunity to catch up with William as he starts his three day tour here in the Northeast.
Green and his band mates, Cameron Moreland, Josh Serrato, Sawyer McGee and Steven Marcus travel to New England once a year to tour. Their first stop this year is at Loretta’s Last Call on Lansdowne Street in Boston. They will head to Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun’s The Wolf Den next and lastly off to New York for the Hill Country BBQ. Green’s shows are full of energy and loud music. He always has fun when he is performing and does not take things too seriously. “We do this because we love it and I feel it reflects us on stage.”
Becoming a performer was not Green’s main goal, in fact, he never even thought it was conceivable. He just wrote songs because he liked writing songs. It was not until he was a sophomore in college, while playing bars around town just for fun, that he realized maybe he could be a performer. Green watched other bands performing in those same bars and saw that in a business sense, they were doing it better than he was. He thought if they could do it, he could too. After he released his first record, ‘Dangerous Man,’ in 2008, he saw the real possibility. “After listening to the record I did, which wasn’t a perfect record by any means, but for a first record I thought we did a really good job, that’s when I was like ok I think I can do this, I am capable of doing this.”
Making that decision and taking that chance has been advantageous for Green. He has a huge following of fans in Texas due much to the 100 radio stations that back him. He feels blessed for their support and for opening up the doors that have allowed him to play his music all over Texas, including the biggest honky-tonk, Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth. Green will be releasing his fifth album at the end of May. The album ‘Live at Gruene Hall’ was recorded at Gruene Hall, which is the oldest dance hall in Texas.
Personally, Green prefers writing by himself, but as a songwriter he would like to grow, so collaborating with other artists is a good way to help him do that. Half of the songs on Green’s albums include songs written solely by him and the other half are songs in which he has written with others. Writing is all about emotions to Green. He does not just sit down and start writing a song, he has to have some kind of feeling behind it. “I’m definitely more of an attitude songwriter, whether it’s anger or sadness, happiness frustration or any type of emotion. I kind of have to be pissed off about something.”
When Green is not writing or touring, he stays at his farm in Texas, where he appreciates the down time. “I’m definitely slow moving. I’m not a fast paced, get everything done guy. I enjoy the time I have at home, as much as possible.” Just like how he spends his time when he is home on his farm, his easy going attitude spills over to his goals for the future. He is enjoying the success he has but being successful, to Green, does not equal money. “I told myself I would do it as long as I’m happy doing it. The money is not really the issue. It’s not why I started it. I enjoy it so much.”
The most amazing part of touring to Green is the unknown. Every year something new and exciting happens that has never happened before. It is what keeps him going. Traveling the country with a band, making and playing music, and going through the ups and downs together has taught Green more than anything he could have learned at college. “It’s a maturing experience and a learning experience. I’ve learned so much about people in general, dealing with people and dealing with situations. I would not trade it for any amount of money. I’ve learned a lot about myself and I am still learning and figuring it out.”
Green seems to be figuring things out just fine if his sold out shows are any indication.
New England Country Music would like to thank William Clark Green for taking time out of his busy schedule to chat with us about his passion for writing music and his love of touring.
Artist interview conducted by Lorraine Frigoletto, contributing writer for New England Country Music. You can follow me on Twitter.