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Robert Earl Keen: Songs
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Robert Earl Keen is the Sam Peckinpah of the singer-songwriter movement. Almost alone in a field dominated by "sensitive" types, Keen is willing to write songs about America's--especially his native Texas'--obsession with guns and violence. Although he is often pigeonholed (and not without reason) as a comic songwriter, guns are all over his fourth album, A Bigger Piece of the Sky. Keen is not a great singer (he sounds like Jerry Jeff Walker with a cold), but he is one of the best lyricists in a state crawling with them.
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Robert Earl Keen was an innovative contributor to the contemporary singer-songwriter framework which supports many area touring bands today, both in its business and artistic models. He arrived on the scene after the radio heyday of the 70’s Outlaw movement, when many singer-songwriters struggled to form bands and get gigs amongst cover bands and strictly two-stepping honky tonkers; when music success still hinged on being funneled to the airwaves in carefully filtered corporate and record label cooperation.
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Since 1984 Robert Earl Keen has issued records that stick to a tried-and-true formula. His first, "No Kinda Dancer," set the template: catchy story songs, earnest ballads and wry whimsical numbers, all played by musicians who believe in the material.
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Robert Earl Keen managed to strike an unusual balance between raucous barroom fun (like in "That Buckin' Song") and sensitive story-portraits (like in "Corpus Christi Bay"). The two types of compositions in Robert’s output were unified by a sense of humor that influenced the early material of what would become known as alternative country music.
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Texas to the core, Robert Earl writes songs that are picturesque and poignant, yet complex enough to demand repeated listening and singing. With a voice that resonates and a style all his own, Robert Earl is coming back to The Grand, the place he calls his "favorite gig".
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The only song when Keen doesn't keep his promise to the non-country fans is on "High Plaines Jamboree." Not only does the track sound like it could be a saloon favorite, but the lyrics speak of ridiculous relationship soap operas, a subject that's been covered countless times within the genre. Despite this one flaw, Keen does a solid job of conveying his niche sound with the ability to vocally and lyrically pay tribute to some of the greatest artists of all time.
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