NASHVILLE, TN. (Universal) - There's something brewing down in Texas, where cultural force Pat Green's sold out the
Houston Astrodome twice, become synonymous with the outsider troubadour tradition defined by Willie
Nelson and had more than his share of good times and better music. As "Don't Break My
Heart Again," the lead single from Green's follow-up to the gold
Wave On Wave, arrives at radio, it's already his highest charting debut - at No 42 on
Radio & Records - a week before the official add date.
"It's crazy, but crazy cool," says the truly grateful songwriter, whose "
Wave On Wave" hit the Top 5 last year. "I mean, the week before we're even starting - the song has already outcharted my first two singles! And it's funny, because it's all happened so organically... but it's wild that people so far beyond
Texas are hearing my music."
"Don't Break My Heart Again" is a tribute to the heart's ability to sustain even the most difficult situations - the will of love to maintain its hold through even deep hurt and bruised pride. A first cut for co-writer Wade Bowen, it was a song that Green was just as committed to bringing through the process.
"I think we started that song like 5 times, and I couldn't even find anyone to finish it with me... it was so rough to write," confesses the triple Grammy nominee.
"It started because we were watching the movie 'Badlands,' and it came to the scene where the guy comes home - and asks about a big old tree that was gone. The heroine says, 'Well, the rains came and just washed away its roots.' I don't know why that stuck with me, but it did.
"So, I knew there was something there. I KNEW that chorus was true deep, and Wade rolled up his sleeves and got in there with me. Sometimes when you really have to fight for 'em, those songs can hit the hardest... When we've been out playing shows, all kinds of people come up and tell me about that song, about how the ones they really love are the ones that they ended up fighting for. Kinda like getting 'Don't Break My Heart Again' written."
Produced by Don Gehman, the man behind Green's Wave On Wave and John Mellencamp's most seminal work, "Don't Break My Heart Again" merges Green's ace road band with some of America's most influential musicians.
In addition to Dixie Chick musical director/Storyville focal point David Grissom on electric guitar, critically acclaimed violinist/songwriter Lisa Germano was enlisted along with Notorious Cherry Bomb John Hobbs on piano and Hank Williams' Jr steel wizard Mike Daly.
"We wanted that sweeping feeling that is love mixed with heartache," says Green. "You know the way those waves just wash over you when it's a mess and you don't know what to do? That's the rhythm we wanted - because we know this is something everybody's felt. The difference, though, is the idea that as battered as they are, they're still willing to get past everything that's holding them back - the fear, the pain, the pride - and ask each other to try again, just please don't make it hurt this time.
"And like I said, who hasn't been there, but maybe was too afraid to reach out again? Maybe this song'll inspire a few people to re-think everything."
