A conversation with . . .

With three Grammy nominations and a Top-5 Billboard Country Single under his belt, country music star Pat Green is no stranger to success these days.

But it was only recently that the Texas star first really came into the national radio spotlight with the title track of his 2003 album “Wave on Wave,” for which he earned a Grammy nomination.

Photo courtesy Pat Green

His album “Lucky Ones” is the latest effort from the man who’s grown older, started a family, had a lot of fun and recorded a decade’s worth of tunes.

Here, Green takes a minute to talk about life these days as a songwriter and a family man.

I think it’s very true what you’ve said about the deeper truths lying in the more complicated spaces in life that open up as we get older. Can you cite a few examples in your work where that struggle has led you to a higher truth — maybe a line or two you couldn’t have written when you were younger?

Pat Green: Getting married and having children have totally changed my perspective on just about everything. Mostly about responsibility and how my life is connected to other lives around me. I can no longer just go out and just live for me.

At the same time, I have to be able to write about what makes me a happy man. The truth is that the trials in my life that sit on my shoulders are the same things that I get the most out of.

You’ve talked about needing a balance between intense inward songs and good-times crowd-pleasing songs, and you’ve done both. What are some differences for you, especially in the writing stage?

PG: I really write from a space that is totally free from direction, be it sing along or inward songs. I just write what comes out next in other words. I’ll sing the song as it comes out and I hope that people like the songs whatever they are.

What are the more notable challenges and rewards for you these days, having already accomplished so much?

PG: There is no greater joy in my life than to have a wife I love deeply and a child I see myself in and a job that fulfills me in every other aspect.

For you nowadays, are there any big goals, dreams, ambitions, bulls to take by the horns? Career or otherwise?

PG: I would love to see country music take on a few tougher issues and allow songs on the radio that will challenge the listener to think a bit more. There is more to life than emotional expression.

Pat Green will perform at 8 tonight in Virginia Tech’s Burruss Hall Auditorium. Doors open at 7 p.m.

What’s in your CD player these days?

1. Randy Rodgers

2. Keith Urban

3. Billy Joe Shaver

4. Bruce Springsteen

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