Riley Green releases ‘Think As You Drunk,’ a Toby Keith tribute featuring the late icon’s vocals, ahead of his fourth album ‘That’s Just Me’ this September
Riley Green is stepping into the biggest chapter of his career without slowing down. On May 28, the Alabama-born singer-songwriter released “Think As You Drunk,” a fiddle-forward drinking anthem that doubles as a full-circle tribute to his greatest creative hero, the late Toby Keith. The single arrived alongside the announcement of Green’s fourth studio album, That’s Just Me, due September 18 via Nashville Harbor Records and Entertainment, and was timed to coincide with Green’s Billboard cover story, in which the publication called him a “smoking-hot star” rising from a slow-burn career trajectory.
The song is as spontaneous as country music gets. Green co-wrote “Think As You Drunk” with longtime collaborators Erik Dylan, Wyatt McCubbin and Jessi Alexander in approximately 20 minutes, a pace that belies just how fully realized the track sounds. Produced by Dann Huff, the song rides a guitar melody closely related to Keith’s 2005 barroom classic “As Good As I Once Was” and centers on a man attempting, unconvincingly, to argue his sobriety to a skeptical bartender. Taste of Country noted that Keith’s actual vocals appear at the song’s close, making the tribute something more than sonic homage.
Riley Green and Toby Keith: A Lineage Honored
Green has been performing Keith’s catalog in his live set for years, regularly covering “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” on the road, and has credited Keith as the single largest influence on how he hears and writes country songs. Although Green never had the opportunity to meet Keith before his death in February 2024, the reverence has always been personal. According to Green, his father used to joke that Keith’s “As Good As I Once Was” was written about him, giving the sample a family dimension that goes beyond industry tribute.
Green’s team brought the completed track to Keith’s manager and family before release, and the response shaped what the song ultimately became. “They completely thought it was a tip of the cap to Toby, so they wanted to have his vocal on it,” Green told Billboard. “So it’s really a full-circle moment for me to have Toby’s vocal on that song.” A portion of proceeds from the single will benefit the Toby Keith Foundation.
A Fourth Album and a Career at Full Throttle
“Think As You Drunk” is the second preview of That’s Just Me, following the heartbreak ballad “My Way,” which Green debuted during his four-episode acting appearance as Garrett on CBS’s Marshals. The album, again helmed by Huff, is expected to reflect the range Green has developed across his catalog, from emotional storytelling to the kind of crowd-ready summer anthems that have made his headlining “Cowboy As It Gets Tour” one of country music’s most consistent live draws in 2026. The tour includes sold-out stops at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey, Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York, and Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana, through the summer.
Green’s off-stage footprint has expanded in parallel. In addition to his acting debut, the multi-Grammy-nominated artist is set to join Season 30 of The Voice as a coach, will co-host CMA Fest Presented by SoFi on June 24, and recently launched his spirits brand, Duck Club Bourbon. His Billboard cover story revealed that Green, now so recognizable he checks into hotels under a pseudonym, has leaned on Tim McGraw for guidance on balancing music and acting. Through all of it, “Think As You Drunk” serves as the purest statement of where Green’s instincts still live: two chords, a barroom floor, and a ghost vocal from the man who taught him what country music was supposed to feel like.
