Robert Earl Keen

Biography

Robert Earl Keen (born January 11, 1956) is an American country singer and songwriter from Houston, Texas.

Early life and education

Keen was born and grew up in Houston, Texas. As a teenager, he was an avid reader who excelled in writing and literature classes. Keen was a fan of the British rock band Cream, and was influenced by country music from artists Willie Nelson, Norman Blake, Jesse Winchester, Flatt and Scruggs, Bill Withers, Gary Stewart, and Jimmie Rodgers.
After graduation from Sharpstown High School, Keen started playing guitar himself shortly thereafter, learning to play classic country covers out of a songbook the summer before starting college at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. He graduated with a bachelor of arts in English in 1978, and began writing songs and playing bluegrass and folk music with friends, including his childhood friend (and future longtime fiddle player in his band) Bryan Duckworth. During his college years, Keen lived with future musician Lyle Lovett.

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, Liberty Lunch, Anderson Fair in Houston, and Gruene Hall near 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×No Kinda Dancer1984 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1No Kinda Dancer3:042The Front Porch Song3:383Between Hello & Goodbye2:334Swervin' in My Lane4:035Christabel4:036Willie2:347Young Lovers Waltz3:388Death of Tail Fitzsimmons4:009Rolling By3:4710The Armadillo Jackal3:25.
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×The Live Album1988 · Album · LiveSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1I Wanna Know2:482The Front Porch Song6:373Goin' Down in Style4:204If I Were King2:565Copenhagen3:126I Would Change My Life2:517Stewball2:448I'll Go on Downtown4:009The Bluegrass Widow6:2010Who'll Be Looking Out for Me2:39, in 1988, followed by his third album, West Textures×West Textures1989 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Sing One for Sister3:062The Road Goes on Forever5:033Maria4:324Sonora's Death Row4:155Mariano3:326Don't Turn Out the Light2:537Leavin' Tennessee2:558Jennifer Johnson & Me3:229The Five Pound Bass2:5910It's the Little Things2:2411Love's a Word I Never Throw Around3:02 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×A Bigger Piece of Sky8 October 1993 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1So I Can Take My Rest3:222Whenever Kindness Fails3:403Amarillo Highway2:314Night Right for Love4:175Jesse With the Long Hair…3:466Blow You Away3:377Here in Arkansas4:448Daddy Had a Buick2:589Corpus Christi Bay4:0210Crazy Cowboy Dream2:2611Paint the Town Beige4:3912Blow You Away (reprise)1:13. 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×Picnic1997 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Undone3:492Over the Waterfall4:333Levelland5:134I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight4:105Oh Rosie5:256Runnin' With the Night4:177The Coming Home of the Son and Brother3:558Shades of Gray5:079Fourth of July4:0010Then Came Lo Mein3:59, marked the beginning of his on-again, off-again relationship with major labels (both that album and 1998's Walking Distance×Walking Distance27 October 1998 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Down That Dusty Trail3:392Traveling Light3:533Feelin' Good Again3:174That Buckin' Song2:195I'll Be Here for You4:056Billy Gray4:347Theme: Road to No Return / Carolina8:148New Life in Old Mexico4:189Still Without You / Conclusion: Road to No Return5:1310[silence]1:0111Happy Holidays Y'all9:01 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×Farm Fresh Onions7 October 2003 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Furnace Fan3:592All I Have is Today3:283Out Here in the Middle4:304Train Trek6:005Farm Fresh Onions4:476Floppy Shoes3:377Gone On2:438So Sorry Blues4:249Beats the Devil3:0110These Years3:5011Famous Words3:4612Let the Music Play5:3613Farm Fresh Onions Extras3:02 (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:

Bill Whitbeck — bass, upright bass, vocals
Tom Van Schaik — drums, vocals
Brian Beken — fiddle, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
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 1, 3, and 4 at Floore's Country Store in Helotes, Texas. Approximately 3,000 people attended the last show on September 4 for nearly two-and-a-half hours. Despite the claims of playing his final shows and farewell tour, Keen proceeded to do several shows in 2023 and listed a 2024 tour on his website with a dozen stops. Instagram posts on Keen's account containing photos from his "I'm Coming Home Farewell Tour" were later edited to remove reference to the "farewell" part of the tour.