Robert Earl Keen

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Robert Earl Keen (born January 11, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and entertainer.

The Houston native debuted with No Kinda Dancer in 1984, and has released 18 full-length albums on both independent and major record labels.

Several country, folk, and Texas country music artists, including George Strait, Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett, The Highwaymen, Nanci Griffith, and the Dixie Chicks, have all performed his songs. Despite the fact that both his albums and live performances vary, from folk, country, and bluegrass to rock, he is most commonly associated with the Americana genre.

Keen has performed extensively both in the United States and abroad throughout his career, and was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012, alongside Lyle Lovett and the late Townes Van Zandt.

Early life and education

Keen was born in Houston, Texas, United States, and he grew up. Keen, a teen, was an avid reader who excelled in writing and literature classes. Keen was a fan of the English rock band Cream and was influenced by country music by Willie Nelson, Norman Blake, Jesse Winchester, Flatt and Scruggs, Bill Withers, Gary Stewart, and Jimmie Rodgers.

Keen began playing guitar in the summer immediately after graduating from Sharpstown High School, learning how to perform classic country covers out of a songbook shortly thereafter. He received a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1978 and began writing songs and performing bluegrass and folk music with his peers, including his childhood friend (and future fiddle player in his band) Bryan Duckworth. Keen lived with future singer Lyle Lovett during his college years.

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Career

In 1978, Keen graduated from Texas A&M and moved to Austin, Texas. He performed in nightclubs and live music venues in Austin, including Cactus Cafe, Emma Joe's, Alamo Lounge and Liberty Lunch, Anderson Fair in Houston, and Gruene Hall in New Braunfels. In 1983, Keen won the New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Kerrville, Texas. That same year, he began making his self-produced first album, No Kinda Dancer.

Following the release of this album in 1985, Keen moved to Nashville with his future wife, Kathleen Gray. He signed a publishing deal, a new independent label deal, and signed with a national booking agent. While in Nashville, Keen and Gray worked at Hatch Show Print shop.

Keen returned to Texas in 1987 and released his second album, The Live Album, in 1988, followed by his third album, West Textures in 1989. West Textures featured the first recording of Keen's signature song, "The Road Goes on Forever.” Fellow Texan Joe Ely recorded the song on his 1993 album Love and Danger, along with another Keen song, "Whenever Kindness Fails". Keen's own version of "Whenever Kindness Fails" appeared on his fourth album, 1993's A Bigger Piece of Sky. In 1994, he released Gringo Honeymoon followed by No. 2 Live Dinner in 1996.

Keen has continued to write and record music, while also maintaining a prodigious tour schedule. His 1997 album, Picnic, marked the beginning of his on-again, off-again relationship with major labels (both that album and 1998's Walking Distance were issued on Arista Records, and 2001's Gravitational Forces, 2009's The Rose Hotel and 2011's Ready for Confetti were released on Lost Highway Records). Keen's other albums include 2003's Farm Fresh Onions (Audium/Koch Records) and 2005's What I Really Mean and 2006's Live at the Ryman (both on E1 Music). The producers with whom he has worked on those albums have included John Keane, Gurf Morlix, Gary Velletri, and Lloyd Maines. In 2022, his concert tour was listed as one of the most successful in the world.

His band includes:

In January 2022, Keen announced that he would stop touring and performing publicly after September 2022. His final tour was named the "I’m Coming Home Farewell Tour" and the final leg was played September 1st, 3rd and 4th at Floore’s Country Store in Helotes, Texas. Approximately 3,000 people attended the last show on September 4th for nearly two-and-a-half hours.

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