Riley Green Met Sam Elliott at the CMAs and the Exchange Was Exactly as Legendary as You’d Expect. ML

“Hey, how are you doing?”
Grrrrr.

That was the full extent of Riley Green’s first-ever run-in with Sam Elliott. There was no handshake, no words, and no small talk. Just a low, legendary growl.

Riley shared the story on the Like A Farmer podcast this week, and if you thought the man behind The Ranch and 1883 would be standing around making conversation at the CMA red carpet, then you had the wrong idea.

It all started a few years back when Riley was just getting his boots muddy in the mainstream. He spotted Elliott and Ashton Kutcher backstage at the CMA Awards, where they were promoting their Netflix series The Ranch. Riley, being a Southern boy raised right, greeted the Hollywood legend with a simple “Hey, how are you doing?”

Elliott did not flinch. He did not smile. He did not even blink.

“He just growled at me,” Riley said, laughing. “Which was awesome, but we didn’t really meet, so I’ll just say Billy Bob Thornton.”

That is right. Sam growled. Not in a mean way but in a full-on cowboy spirit kind of way. And honestly, that is the most Sam Elliott thing that could have happened. The voice, the mustache, and the gravel-road charisma all made perfect sense.

It is the kind of encounter you do not forget, even if it barely counts as a conversation. And Riley has not. He retold it with the kind of grin you wear when something strange happens, but you know it is still cooler than anything your buddies could ever top.

Now, flash forward to this year’s CMAs, and Riley is the one getting the attention. He and Ella Langley walked away with three trophies for their slow-burn duet “You Look Like You Love Me,” and they followed it up with another Country Airplay number one, “Don’t Mind If I Do.” That made them just the second duo, since Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, to land multiple collaborative chart-toppers in the same era.

And Riley is building something even bigger. He became the first artist since Taylor Swift to earn back-to-back Country Airplay number ones with songs he wrote all by himself. “Worst Way” and “Don’t Mind If I Do” were written start to finish with no co-writers, just Riley and a guitar.

While the awards keep stacking up, the anticipation for what is next is building, too. He has already hinted at new music that is even more stripped-down and acoustic than anything he has done before. There will be no overproduction, just raw vocals and front-porch honesty. Maybe even a few growls of his own.

The Cowboy As It Gets tour is gearing up to cover nearly every corner of the country, from New Jersey to Georgia, and based on how things are going, Riley Green is not slowing down anytime soon.

Even with all the milestones and spotlight moments, it is still that one strange, wordless encounter backstage that sticks with him.

Getting growled at by Sam Elliott is not a snub.

It is a cowboy’s seal of approval.