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Advanced Tickets:
281-807-8760
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August 17th
Robert Earl Keen |
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Among the large
contingent of
talented songwriters
who emerged in Texas
in the 1980s and
1990s, Robert Earl
Keen struck an
unusual balance
between sensitive
story-portraits
("Corpus Christi
Bay") and raucous
barroom fun ("That
Buckin' Song").
These two song types
in Keen's output
were unified by a
mordant sense of
humor that strongly
influenced the early
practitioners of
what would become
known as alternative
country music. Keen,
the son of an oil
executive father and
an attorney mother,
is a native of
Houston. His parents
enjoyed both folk
and country music,
and his own style
would land between
those genres. Keen
wrote poetry while
he was in high
school, but it
wasn't until he went
to journalism school
at musically fertile
Texas A&M that he
learned to play the
guitar. He and Lyle
Lovett became
friends and co-wrote
a song, "This Old
Porch," which both
later recorded.
Keen made a splash
in Austin with his
debut album, No
Kinda Dancer,
self-financed in
1984 for $4500. He
moved to Nashville
during the heady
experimentalism of
the 1980s that saw
Lovett and k.d. lang
hit the country
scene, but he soon
returned to Austin.
Texas landscapes and
residents provided
him with creative
inspiration, as his
second album,
West Textures,
made clear. That
album yielded one of
Keen's signature
numbers, an
ambitious
crime-spree song
called "The Road
Goes on Forever."
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By then
signed to
Sugar Hill,
Keen
recorded a
live album
shortly
after
West
Textures
but waited
several
years to
release a
studio
follow-up,
1993's A
Bigger Piece
of Sky.
After that
album (which
contained
"Corpus
Christi
Bay") came
Gringo
Honeymoon
(1994),
which merged
Keen's story
songs with
the emerging
sounds of
alt-country.
Gurf Morlix,
who later
produced
albums for
both Keen
and Lucinda
Williams,
played
guitar. A
young
Gillian
Welch
provided
harmony
vocals.
Once again,
after taking
his career
to a new
stage, Keen
recorded a
live album
No. 2
Live Dinner,
(1996) and
took time to
accumulate
new
material.
The 1997
album
Picnic,
his first
for the
Arista Texas
label, again
moved in the
direction of
alternative
country,
featuring
Keen in a
duet with
the Cowboy
Junkies'
Margo
Timmins,
while 1998's
Walking
Distance
featured
sparer
textures.
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Whatever production
style surrounded his
songs, Keen's
musical personality
seemed consistent,
and his live shows,
widely known thanks
to a touring
schedule that often
approached 200 dates
a year in the 1990s,
grew organically, in
depth and control.
In the early 2000s
Keen signed with the
Lost Highway label
and released the
album
Gravitational Forces
(2001). He also
devoted time to his
influential annual
concert series and
talent festival,
Texas Uprising,
which took place at
several venues
around Texas and the
Far West. Farm
Fresh Onions
(2003) and What I
Really Mean
(2005) were released
on Koch. ~ James
Manheim, All Music
Guide
Source:
www.robertearlkeen.com |
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“This isa fusonability o be too serious.”
Kevin iproofuntry out of the boy. Born in Amarillo, Kevin was fed a stea
d all th
Back to 2007
Lineup
Back t
ck music has also played a major role in Kevin’s musical career. “I am not a genre-list,” says Kevin. “I am a channel surfer.” “One minute I may be listening to some Haggard and the next I will be rocking out to Metallica.” |
After
20
years
in
Amarillo,
Kevin
decided
it
was
time
to
get
serious
about
music.
He
picked
up
his
guitar
and
moved
to
Los
Angeles
where
he
attended
the
Guitar
Institute
of
Technology.
“Moving
to
L.A.
from
Amarillo
was
both
a
scary
and
enlightening
experience”
says
Kevin.
“I
didn’t
have
a
job
and
took
the
entire
year
to
focus
on
writing
songs
and
learning
guitar.”
Upon
returning
to
Texas,
Kevin
moved
to
Austin.
He
gained
experience
playing
live
with
the
rock
band
Dangerous
Toys,
and
eventually
fronted
his
own
Southern
hard-rock
band
named
Thunderfoot.
However,
the
allure
of
country
music
brought
him
back
to
his
roots.
In
1998,
Kevin
put
together
a
country
band
and
has
been
creating
songs
for
regular
folks
ever
since.
“I
make
music
for
working-class
country
music
fans
like
me”
explains
Fowler.
“I
want
my
music
and
live
shows
to
function
as a
way
for
fans
to
escape
the
weekly
grind
and
let
loose.”
Since
the
release
of
his
debut
album,
Beer,
Bait,
&
Ammo,
Kevin
has
seen
his
fan-base
grow
in
epic
proportions,
and
has
sold
over
an
astounding
200,000
albums.
“What
I
Wouldn’t
Give
for
Your
Love,”
is
Kevin’s
first
single
since
signing
with
823
Management,
Inc.,
based
in
Kerrville.
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Read more
about REK in
Best In Texas
Music Magazine |
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