Green taking a little time off to smell the roses

Emotionally and physically speaking, Texas troubadour Pat Green is a good place.

"Ah, the couch," he said. "Now I'm being analyzed."

After five years of nonstop touring and playing in excess of 200-plus shows a year, Green decided it was time to take it easy. This year he has cut his touring schedule in half while he finishes up work on his next studio album.

"I want to see my kids and my wife for a little bit," said Green, on his way to a golf course. "Next year we'll go back at it when we have a record on the charts and get it going."

His plan for his year, besides a quick one-off show at the Windjammer on the Isle of Palms tonight, is to support his latest single "Let Me" during the summer.

Green will follow up by releasing an as-of-yet untitled album in November. It will be the 11th recording of his career.

The time off has made the San Antonio-born, Waco-raised, Lubbock-educated and Austin-based singer-songwriter feel comfortable and yet driven at the same time. That relaxed feeling has put Green into a good place in terms of being creative.

"I try to remain true to what I'm feeling at the time," said Green in regards to the songs he's still writing and recording for the next project.

"If the music coming out is exciting then you get a lot of that. If the music that's coming out of me if kind introspective then that's what you get, so it just kind of depends on where I am in heart. I let it just take its natural course."

Speaking of natural course.

Green emerged on the Texas circuit in 1995, the same year he released his self-financed debut "Dancehall Dreamer." It was just first of six independently released albums and the beginning of a careerlong association with fellow Texas Willie Nelson and Jerry Jeff Walker, as well as Jack Ingram and Robert Earl Keen.

His big break came in 1998 when he befriended Willie Nelson and over night he became a cult-hero among college students throughout Texas.

After a string of albums, including "George's Bar," "Here We Go," "Live at Billy Bob's Texas," "Carry On" and "Song's We Wish We'd Written," Green released his major label debut, "Three Days," in 2001.

Ever since then it's been a whirlwind of touring. In the past five years Green has released a trio of albums: "Wave on Wave," "Lucky One's" and "Cannonball." The recordings have kept Green and his band on the road since 2003.

His biggest commercial success to date was "Wave on Wave" and still a hero among Texans, Green continues to build a more national-based presence among mainstream country music fans.

That said, the 36-year-old decided for himself that it was time to take it easy.

"You better, cause nobody's gonna do it for you," Green said. "That's what I've learned in this life. This whole thing is up to you.

"It's never too late to start and it's never too late to get the ball rolling toward making yourself whatever it is you always dreamed you could be.

"I guess," he continued, "more than anything, everyone is responsible for their own happiness, and I feel like taking the time to make myself happy."

Truth be told, happiness for Green, an avid golfer at home in Texas with his family or on the road with his band, is burning calories by walking 18 holes.

Keith Ryan Cartwright is a Colorado-based freelance entertainment journalist.