Robert Earl Keen achieved an unusual balance between sensitive personal songs and cheerful music for the audience of bars and pubs. All of Keen’s creativity is imbued with a piercing sense of humor. Houston-trend will tell you more about the journey of the Texas troubadour, whose witty words and catchy melodies turned out to be a winning combination.
EARLY DAYS
Robert Earl Keen was born on January 11, 1956 in Houston. His father worked in the oil industry and his mother was a lawyer. In his teenage years, the boy was passionate about reading and performed well in writing and literature classes. The young man was fascinated by the British rock band Cream. He also listened to country songs by Willie Nelson, Norman Blake, Jesse Winchester and other singers. Keen inherited his love for music from his parents.
At the age of 8, Robert wrote a song for Larry’s Mexican Food restaurant in the Texas city of Rosenberg. While studying at Sharpstown High School, he wrote verses. After graduating, he mastered the guitar and played classic country covers. In 1978, he got a Bachelor of Arts in English from College Station of Texas A&M University. It was then that he began professionally writing folk and country music and performing with friends.
While in college, Keen shared a room with Lyle Lovett, a future country singer, songwriter, producer, actor and the first husband of Julia Roberts. Keen and Lovett became good friends and, together, composed the song “This Old Porch.”
DEBUT AND AN UNFORTUNATE MOVE TO ANOTHER CITY
In 1984, Keen made a splash in Austin with his debut album “No Kinda Dancer.” He produced it on his own, spending $4,500. Later, the musician moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
Nashville was a perfect city for an aspiring country musician, but at the same time, it was also highly competitive. The musician roamed the streets, trying to attract attention to his music. One evening, he and his wife Kathleen returned home from a concert in Kansas to find that their house had been burglarized. The couple returned to Austin 22 months later. Besides the point, Robert married Kathleen in 1986. The couple has two daughters.
MUSIC ALBUMS
Texas inspired Keen to create his second album “West Textures” (1989). A song from the album “The Road Goes on Forever,” which tells the story of a criminal, became very popular. In 1993, Keen released his third album, “A Bigger Piece of Sky,” followed by “Gringo Honeymoon” a year later. The album inluded autobiographical songs with new alt-country sounds.
In 1997, the musician recorded the album “Picnic” and a year later, “Walking Distance,” which featured not so cheerful songs. In 1998, the music industry officially recognized the Americana genre as a blend of American music formed by the fusion of common and diverse traditions that create the musical spirit of the United States. Robert Earl Keen was the first performer of this genre to be on the Americana music chart. In addition, he made the debut cover of The Gavin Report radio magazine.
In the early 2000s, Keen signed with Lost Highway Records and released the album “Gravitational Forces” (2001). He also found time for his powerful annual concert touring and talent festival, Texas Uprising, held in several locations in Texas and the Far West. In 2003, the album “Farm Fresh Onions” was introduced to the world, followed by “What I Really Mean” in 2005 and “The Rose Hotel in 2009.”
Before the release of his next album, the Houstonian decided to experiment, and instead of composing in his small cabin in the Texas countryside, he started doing it on the road. In the summer of 2011, the album “Ready for Confetti” came out. Three years later, Keen went back to the studio with a group of first-class acoustic masters and some high-ranking partners to record a collection of classic bluegrass covers. Bluegrass is a genre of American folk music that encompasses whimsical melodies from British immigrants and African Americans, as well as jazz and blues. In 2015, Keen released “Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions”.
Throughout his career, lyrics have remained the most important component in Keen’s music. He is best known for his ingenious texts about American culture. Songs like “Gringo Honeymoon”, “The Road Goes on Forever”, “Feelin’ Good Again” and “Merry Christmas from the Family” make listeners both think and laugh. “Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions,” on the other hand, differs from the American music that Keen is so well-known for.
Regardless of the production style, Keen’s musical personality has remained unchanged. His live performances are widely known due to an active touring schedule: in the 1990s, Keen played up to 200 shows per year.
RECOGNITION
In 2015, the company Broadcast Music Inc. created the Troubadour Award in honor of Robert Earl Keen. The award honors the best songwriters. Furthermore, Keen, together with Lyle Lovett and Townes Van Zandt, were inducted into the Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In July 2021, the magazine Pollstar included Keen in the top 20 Global Concert Tours. This proves that he followed the right path among competitors, critics and fans, earning him the status of a living legend and a pioneer in the world of American music.
