Robert Earl Keen, courtesy photo by Peter Figen
This article was written by Todd Hutchinson, and printed in the Sherman Herald Democrat in December. Hutchinson is the Webmaster for the Herald Democrat. The story has been updated only a little bit, to bring it current. Robert Earl will be playing Saturday night at Texas Music Revolution XV at Southfork Ranch in Wylie/Parker, Texas. Dallas-based radio station KHYI is hosting the annual, indoor festival.
The road goes on forever, and Robert Earl Keen’s musical journey includes his appearance at KHYI’s Texas Music Festival Saturday. It’s a fitting concert for one of Texas’ favorite musical sons.
Chances are he’ll play one of his many classics, “Merry Christmas from the Family,”a look at how a non-traditional family (most of us) tries to celebrate a traditional Christmas, and just doesn’t quite get there, but after a few Noels, some bloody marys, Diet Sprite, tampons and fake snow, the Christmas Spirit survives and thrives. The New York Times says the song is, “the holiday season’s gold standard.”
“It was an honest attempt to capture what Christmas was for me,” Keen said. “I thought I don’t relate to Christmas songs, I want my own.” So, Keen wrote the song “almost as a joke,” but took it to his producer who loved it and put it on the album “No. 2 Live Dinner.” The song has taken on a life of its own and has been turned into a book of the same name. “I’m glad I’ve contributed to the culture,” he said.
The singer-songwriter performs 100+ shows a year, and has been barnstorming the country with his traveling road show since the 1980s. One of his early experiences in Texoma was when he played at a rodeo arena in the area. “This was several years ago, and the show was poorly promoted and a couple of hundred people showed up,” he said. “It was one of those blue sky, low-ceiling days, and all of a sudden the wind blew up, and all those people got blown out. It looked like an outtake from “The Last Picture Show.”
Keen says he has no plans of slowing down his touring schedule. “I’ve just been doing it so long,” he said. “My model is to stay on the road and keep playing and people keep showing up. The way people know I’m around is for me to stay on the road.”
It’s the road that provides Keen, a Houston native who now lives in Kerrville, Texas, with much of his material. Keen recorded his first album, “No Kinda Dancer” in 1984. Keen’s musical style, a blend of rock, blues and country intertwined with his ability to tell a story doesn’t really fit a genre. It’s Texas music. “Music in Texas is a tradition,” he said. “It’s heartfelt.”
That may be why Keen’s fans are broad based, from the frat-boy drink and party song crowd to those who closet lyricists.
Keen was off to the recording studio in February, after his last tour, to record an as yet unnamed album. Keen’s last album,“The Rose Hotel,”dropped in 2009 and was ranked No. 10 on the Billboard Folk Album chart and No. 56 on the Billboard Country Album chart. It was named the No. 6 album of 2010 by The Americana Music Association. “The studio used to be intimidating,” Keen said. “Now, I don’t feel so under the gun to make it perfect all the time. There’s a whole group of people in the studio that you don’t see on the road who are just experts. I like the studio now.”
Texas Music Revolution is in its 15th year, and is held at South Fork Ranch in Wylie/ Parker, Texas. Go to KHYI.com to purchase your advance tickets. Robert Earl will be the honoree at a Meet-and-Greet session for some ticket holders.
On the web: www.robertearlkeen.com