TEXARKANA, Ark. — Texas Red Dirt Country fans are in for a special treat because country riser Joey Greer is playing his first concert at Whiskey River Country in Texarkana on Saturday night.
"He's a cool kid and everything in music now is on TikTok and he's got 175,000 followers," said John Vutech, manager of Whiskey River Country, formerly Shooters. "A friend of mine referred me to him and we like to discover up and risers like this."
Greer's music is appearing on Texas Country and Nashville playlists has his first No. 1 song, "Outlaw Angel." Another song, "Whole Lotta Heaven," is streaming on Spotify's playlists. The Orange, Texas, native said his first debut album, "Frontier," had over five million streams on Spotify.
"This is my Texarkana debut," he said. "I've been there before because a buddy of mine played baseball at A&M Texarkana. I've heard a lot of good things about Whiskey River. I'm excited."
Greer, 26, goes to Nashville once or twice a month to meet with music industry executives but most of his appearances are in Texas.
"I've got more going on than I can handle most of the time," he said. "I love Nashville and I've played close to 10 gigs in Nashville. I might be playing the Blue Bird soon."
The artist chuckled about the 175,000 TikTok followers, but said he is so thankful for the site and what it has done for him. He has a record label meeting in Nashville in the next couple of weeks and is excited about that opportunity.
"Well, it's just like post one video and that's all it takes nowadays and my career is taking off," he said. "I have multiple meetings which have opened up and a whole lot of big doors have opened for me."
Greer was one of five kids and grew up in music surrounded by his family who also played musical instruments at a nondenominational church. He began playing guitar at the age of 6.
"Daddy taught me how to play G, C and D and I taught myself the rest," Greer said. "Those are the simple cords and I just kind of figured out by getting on the internet and listening by ear. And I love to write so I would write songs and make my own kind of songs. I do sound a little different because I learned by ear and there are lots of rules in music. If you don't know the rules, you play outside the box and that's why you sound so differently. It's like really learning to do it your own way."
He said he could name about 50 different people who inspired him growing up, including George Straight, Alan Jackson, George Jones, but primarily Hank Williams Jr. But for the record, he wants people to understand that he doesn't look like a cowboy.
"I grew up country but I'm not a cowboy or anything," he said.
The type of music Greer plays, Texas Red Dirt, didn't come on the national scene until the 90s when artists like Cory Morrow and Robert Earl Keen got noticed in Nashville. It is near and dear to country music fans in North Texas and is often made south of the Red River in Texas. However, the term Red Dirt is a genre of country music that gets its name from the color of soil in Oklahoma and the center of music in Oklahoma is Stillwater, Oklahoma, where many artists got their start at Oklahoma State University.
Greer, who now lives in Nacogdoches, is a Stephen F. Austin State University graduate where he majored in biology and biotechnical research as a premed student. He buckled down and kept a 3.7 GPA while at the same time performing at some of the college parties the university is well known for.
"Throughout my college career, I played frat parties and pretty much anything else. They would pay me with beer or food because they didn't really pay me with cash," he said.
Greer said he does not think most of his fans know how much he understands science.
"I am more of a biology nerd than most people understand, and I was planning on going to med school even though I pursued music my entire college career," he said. "But I decided to chase music instead. Originally, I sold medical equipment out of college so that's how I saved enough money for my album. I'm a good salesman but I'm not a salesman. I was very good at it, but I hated it."
The young artist said his parents were originally afraid for him to pursue music over medicine but are now happy with the way it has worked out.
"At first they were not crazy about it," he said. "Not a lot of people make it in this industry, as you know. They were not necessary not supportive, but they were scared. Now they are my biggest fans and got me at every angle."
Greer's faith and morality is also important to him, and he said it was the way he was raised and the way he continues to live.
"Well, it's the only way to keep your head above the water, that's for sure," he said. "Christianity is so intertwined in me and affects all aspects of my life. I do work hard but if it wasn't for Him opening the doors, I wouldn't be where I'm at."
(Greer's performance begins at 9:30 p.m. at Whiskey River Country and will run to about midnight. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door or online at whiskeyrivercountry.com. For more information about Greer or for streaming capabilities for his music, go to joeygreer.com. Merchandise for the artist is also available on the site.)