01/28/2019

Rolling Stone - Inside Robert Earl Keen, Randy Rogers’ Fictional Stryker Brothers Duo

Texas country singers take on the personas of two make-believe prisoners for ‘Burn Band’ album The idea started with a brush fire, but before long it took on a life of its own. Two lives, in fact: Coal and Flynt Stryker, a pair of mysterious siblings who died in a prison fire, leaving behind a batch of long-lost country recordings. Except that they didn’t. Cole and Flynt never even existed. The Stryker Brothers were nothing more than an excuse for Robert Earl Keen and Randy Rogers to make an album together
11/09/2018

The Mysterious Stryker Brothers Revealed to Be Robert Earl Keen & Randy Rogers

Robert Earl Keen and Randy Rogers want to come clean about their fictional identities: They're The Stryker Brothers. After secretly collaborating on a 13-track album, Burn Band, which they released under the fake band name on Sept. 7, the Texan country stars tell Billboard they're ready to take credit for the LP, a mix of honky-tonk and the hard-driving sound of Texas' red dirt country. They plan to perform one and only Stryker Brothers show on Dec. 22 at The Moody Theater in Austin. By Glenn Peoples :
09/19/2018

Garden & Gun: An Interview with Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett

The two Texas songwriting legends share a forty-year friendship. This fall, they’ll also be sharing the stage. When fellow Texans Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen go on tour together this fall, it’ll be the latest chapter in a friendship that began when they were students at Texas A&M University. Back then, they’d sit on the porch of the house Keen rented and trade songs, just as they’ll be doing on stages around the country beginning in October.
09/07/2018

Robert Earl Keen to Preform at the 17th Annual Americana Honors & Awards

Mark your calendars! Americana music's biggest night is scheduled for 6:30 PM (CDT) next Wednesday, September 12 at Nashville’s historically cool Ryman Auditorium. You'll be able to catch once-in-a-lifetime performances by legendary mainstays and trailblazing newcomers, showcasing the best and brightest from the community like k.d. lang, Buddy Guy, Irma Thomas, Rosanne Cash, John Prine, Robert Earl Keen, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, I’m With Her, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, M
09/06/2018

Robert Earl Keen Celebrates the 25th Anniversary of A Bigger Piece of Sky with Limited Edition Vinyl Release

September 5, 2018… In honor of the 25th anniversary of Robert Earl Keen’s iconic album, A Bigger Piece of Sky, Keen and Dualtone will be releasing it on vinyl for the first time. Available on limited-edition sky-blue vinyl, this piece is a must-have for Robert Earl Keen fans. Scheduled for release on November 16, A Bigger Piece of Sky is available now for advance order at DualtoneStore.com, including autographed vinyl and exclusive merchandise bundles.
09/04/2018

Robert Earl Keen records "Do-Wacka-Do" on Roger Miller's Tribute Album

Genre borders weren’t a thing for Roger Miller, a songwriting phenomenon and enthusiastic smoker who died of lung cancer in 1992. He’s best known for his ‘65 hit “King of the Road,” which topped the country charts here, the pop charts in England and Norway. It’s fitting, therefore, that the high points of King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller come from “country” artists with a similarly cavalier attitude towards convention.
08/29/2018

Robert Earl Keen Talks Back

OffBeat Magazine Article By: John Wirt Robert Earl Keen’s never had a hit—at least not in the traditional chart-topper sense. And he didn’t wear a hat for every album cover, show and publicity shot. He tried but failed to make it in Nashville. None of that matters. Keen’s songs about the good times and the hard times, and his sardonic wit, amiable stage presence and devotion to the road earned him loyal fans from coast to coast.
08/20/2018

Robert Earl Keen, Lukas Nelson rock out for public lands at MSU

Wildlands Festival raises $15K for area nonprofits By Bay Stephens EBS Staff Writer BOZEMAN – The Wildlands Festival on Aug. 10 at Montana State University raised $15,000 for three nonprofits that work to protect and preserve Montana’s wild and open spaces: Yellowstone Forever, Montana Land Reliance and Gallatin Valley Land Trust. The festival featured a double headliner performance by Robert Earl Keen, and Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real. Nearly 3,000 people attended MSU’s first outdoor concert in
08/14/2018

Concert Review: Robert Earl Keen at The Commonwealth Room, Salt Lake City

One of my favorite jokes goes like this: How do you know someone’s from Texas? They’ll tell you. But another surefire way to tell someone’s from Texas is their attendance at a Robert Earl Keen show—and last night the Lone Star State was packed in at The Commonwealth Room to see one of their own in action. It’s basically a required pilgrimage for any Texas ex-pat. By Christie Marcy, Salt Lake City Magazine
06/29/2018

Robert Earl Keen Adds Fall Tour Dates with Lyle Lovett

June 29, 2018, Kerrville, TX...Robert Earl Keen announces a run of fall acoustic dates with Lyle Lovett. The longtime friends began 2018 performing 19 shows together and have added October shows with additional performances in the works. The acoustic shows will feature Lyle and Robert on stage in an intimate evening of storytelling and songs. Robert Earl Keen continues his Summer tour with his sixth annual 4th of July concert in Kerrville, Texas, and upcoming performance in Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Ut
06/25/2018

Robert Earl Keen Band delighted a full Knickerbocker Sunday

By Rick Koster Day staff writer Well, as of 9:55 p.m. Sunday night, inside the Knickerbocker Music Center in Westerly, there were no scientists or skeptics in sight. Instead, as a houseful of happy fans bellowed lustily along with Keen through his set-ending anthem, Sherry the waitress was still driving a brand-new Benz and martyred bad-boy Sonny was still on Death Row. That's what Keen and his band bring, night after night, song after indelible song.
06/22/2018

Country genius Robert Earl Keen plays the Knick on Sunday

If you know Keen's work — and his insanely good band — you've already got your tickets for Sunday's concert at the Knickerbocker Music Center in Westerly, RI. If you're not particularly familiar, get to the show. Over the course of two dazzling hours, you'll become a fan for life. Interview conducted and written by: Rick Koster - Day staff writer
05/17/2018

Austin's New Brewing Heritage: Celis, Pedernales and Uncle Billy's

Bob Leggett is the founder and CEO of Artisanal Imports, known for its focus on importing excellent examples of interesting and varied beer styles from around the world to U.S. shores. Leggett saw an opportunity to expand into his hometown market with a local and genuine Texas craft brewery, and a deal was finalized in late 2017.
04/04/2018

How Robert Earl Keen Became a Country and Americana Cult Hero

To Keen's fans, his songs "The Road Goes on Forever," "Gringo Honeymoon" and "The Front Porch Song" are American classics, helping make him arguably the most important figure to the formation of Red Dirt music as we know it. Still, for all the acclaim and influence, he's never quite fit into the country music ecosystem.
07/28/2017

Legendary guitar maker Bill Collings dies

Luthier Bill Collings died of cancer over the weekend at age 68. Collings was a widely admired guitar maker whose instruments had found their way into the hands of players including Joni Mitchell, Keith Richards, Jerry Jeff Walker, Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen and numerous others.
06/18/2017

Americana Trailblazer ROBERT EARL KEEN Coming to Pawling, NY 7/19

Recently voted Texas Country's No. 1 Live Act by the Houston Press, he remains the genre's keeper of the flame. He has been inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame and has written songs for music superstars George Strait, the Dixie Chicks, The Highwaymen, Lyle Lovett, Joe Ely, Nanci Griffith among others.
05/04/2017

"LIVE FROM AGGIELANE" by Rob Clark , Foreword by Robert Earl Keen

"Live From Aggieland" by Rob Clark with foreward written by Robert Earl Keen takes readers on "an intriguing journey about music giants as they made their mark in the hearts of music lovers throughout the Bryan-College Station area. It's a true testament with intense, pivotal moments and fond memories that make me proud to be a part of the music history in the Razos Valley." Rosie Foster, three-time Grammy nominee blues artist. Copies purchased through the www.robertearlkeen.com website will be personall
12/13/2016

Robert Earl Keen freshens ‘Fam-O-Lee’ on new holiday tour

It’s not easy to keep a holiday show fresh. Some national touring acts, such as Trans-Siberian Orchestra, depend on creating a dazzling new laser show with catwalks where guitarists stroll out playing above the audience. Others, such as Robert Earl Keen, depend on a wacky signature song — “Merry Christmas from the Fam-O-Lee” — a few new stage props and the creativity and talent of members of the Robert Earl Keen Band to continue to breathe new life into the festive celebration.
11/18/2016

Robert Earl Keen on His New Album 'Live Dinner Reunion' and Holiday Tour

In 1996, Robert Earl Keen recorded No. 2 Live Dinner at the legendary John T. Floore's Country Store in Helotes, Texas. At the time, he had no way of knowing it at the time, but the disc would become his best seller. To celebrate that record, Keen decided to return to the scene of the original crime, with a new disc entitled Live Dinner Reunion – out on November 18.
11/18/2016

This Lone Star legend is celebrating an iconic anniversary with an all-star lineup

The Houston native with the effortless voice, raspy twang and prolific pen has inspired and influenced an entire generation of Lone Star poets, including popular Texas favorites like Cory Morrow, Cody Canada, Wade Bowen and Randy Rogers, in the 30-plus years that he has been releasing music. He tapped into some of those relationships when it came time to put together his new album, “Live Dinner Reunion,” recorded at the iconic Floores Country Store in Helotes, Texas.
11/17/2016

Q&A: ROBERT EARL KEEN

The king of the Texas-Americana music hill talks about his new double-album “Live Dinner Reunion,” his love of bluegrass and bubbly pilsners, and his current obsession with crafting the perfect 90-second song.
11/14/2016

Remembering the Coming Back: Robert Earl Keen’s Live Dinner Reunion

If you didn’t grow up in the southern part of the state, it’s probable you didn’t know the first thing about Agua Dulce, Texas. The first verse in “Porch” changed that, even for unaware Lone Star State natives. Other lyrics in the song depicted life in small towns throughout the state, including the enchiladas available at Bryan’s historic LaSalle Hotel. The Reunion version of “Porch” recorded Keen and Lovett weaving harmonies together in a way previously not heard. It’s not just the altered tempo that mak
10/13/2016

First Listen: Robert Earl Keen’s ‘Live Dinner Reunion’

Live Dinner Reunion comes out November 18 and Garden & Gun is thrilled to premiere the album’s first two tracks, “Cody Canada Tells It Like It Is” and Keen’s classic “Feelin’ Good Again.” Below, Keen talks about that night at Floore’s, his current acoustic tour with Lovett, and his upcoming annual Christmas show.
10/05/2016

Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen to perform this weekend during The Festy Experience

Last year, the big news of The Festy was the appearance of music legend Lyle Lovett. "I was pretty flabbergasted when that came together,” recalls Michael Allenby, co-founder and owner of The Festy Experience as well as the Artist Farm, the agency that organizes it. “Lyle Lovett took a chance on us last year,” he continues. “It was the only festival he was playing at on his whole tour with John Hiatt, and he loved it. He told me so. … People say a lot of things at music festivals, but it was at least
09/29/2016

Robert Earl Keen is showcasing his roots

“I can honestly say I’ve never heard a song of mine recorded by someone else that I haven’t been tickled to death about,” said Keen. “It’s just awesome. It makes you feel like you’ve done something right.”
08/18/2016

Guy Clark’s Life and Music Celebrated at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium

“I told my friend Rodney Crowell backstage, ‘Can you imagine a three-hour show with no shitty songs?'” Clark, who died in May at age 74, would have probably been amused by Gill’s comment — if not the mere concept that so many fellow singer-songwriters gathered Tuesday night (Aug. 16) at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium to pay tribute to him. But the other truth is that every person onstage and in the audience had somehow been affected, directly or indirectly, by Clark’s words, melodies and performances.
07/29/2016

The original English major - Robert Earl Keen finally takes on bluegrass

“Most of my English degree came about through literature, not so much writing but the study of literature from novels to poems to free-form writing,” Keen says. “So I read and wrote on a lot of different subjects as far as literature goes, and I feel like I’m part of that fabric now. I’m the original English major. Everyone else went and became a lawyer… or started a bed and breakfast.”
04/21/2016

Robert Earl Keen Jr. to perform in Durango

Keen — who returns with his band Tuesday, April 26 to the Community Concert Hall in Durango, Colo. — routinely crafts fully realized, multi-dimensional tales in the space of a three- or four-minute song, a rare skill that he has had at his command since he broke on to the national scene in the early 1990s, earning him comparisons to the likes of Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle.
03/08/2016

Robert Earl Keen: A Unique Perspective on Songwriting and Success

Throughout his career, words have continued to come first for Keen. “This is still the way it is with my songwriting process,” he says, explaining that, to him, the words are the most important component. That process starts with a picture, he says, “Sometimes it’s something I don’t really understand. And what I see in my head doesn’t necessarily translate into the song itself.”
10/15/2015

Robert Earl Keen at Bluegrass Underground

Robert Earl Keen closed the evening with a set of bluegrass standards mixed with REK standards done bluegrass style. Check your local PBS stations for Bluegrass Underground at Cumberland Caverns. Episode 7 | Robert Earl Keen
08/06/2015

ROLLING STONE: 30 Great Country Albums of 2015 You Probably Didn't Hear

The great tragedy of music is that so many high-quality albums go unheard. Blame it on the glut of material released every year or the fact that the majority of artists don't have the big-budget promotional push to bring their records to the masses. With the year more than half over, we looked at LPs that deserve a second (or, in some cases, even first) listen, from big-name country releases like Dwight Yoakam's Second Hand Heart and Kristian Bush's Southern Gravity to the sublime singer-songwriter fare of
07/28/2015

KMUW: Robert Earl Keen Keeps His Feet On The Grass With ‘Happy Prisoner’

Robert Earl Keen is considered one of the best songwriters of his generation. He’s from a class of writers that includes his good friend Lyle Lovett and acclaimed vocalist Nanci Griffith. He’s known for smart, literate songs and powerful live performances as well as the wry sense of humor common to songwriters from the Lone Star State. What he isn’t known for is bluegrass music. At least until now.
02/23/2015

The Alternate Root Reviews The Bluegrass Sessions!

Robert Earl Keen gets to check another item off his musical “bucket list” and bluegrass fans get to hear 15 classics, reinterpreted in Keen’s own inimitable style. The record opens with a rough and tumble version of the Flatt and Scruggs classic, “Hot Corn, Cold Corn,” delivered in a raucous house-party fashion, complete with hootin’, hollerin’ and no small amount of bullwhippin’ in the background.
02/13/2015

Review of Happy Prisoner on Prescription Bluegrass

God bless Robert Earl Keen for restoring my faith in artistic integrity! This is a dooooozy of a CD, and it’s as real as dirt under your fingernails. It’s bluegrass, it’s old timey, it’s honest, straight from the heart, Mother Earth music and Robert Earl has done the world a favor recording this tribute to the music he loves and grew up listening to.
04/26/2013

Welcome to the New Online Casa....It's Time to Party

We've been working hard (like a Red Hereford Bull) on this brand, spankin' new website. Come on in and mosey around. Enjoy. And oh yea....mark May 17, 2013 on your calendar - just put "Party with Robert Earl Keen" down for now. Stay tuned to RobertEarlKeen.com or sign up for email updates for more information about the ONLINE party that never ends....
02/05/2013

REK - The Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh

As the host of the party that "never ends," Robert Earl Keen puts together a ready-made celebration wherever he goes, and this past Thursday night he brought his traveling fiesta to the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh.
01/17/2013

REK Mixes Wry Humor With Genuine Feeling

"Thank heaven for Robert Earl Keen. During his long career, the Texas-born singer and songwriter has established himself as one of the best practitioners of a varient of country music known for its sly sense of humor ..."
01/15/2013

REK Returns to Harrisburg

'George Strait. Willie Nelson. Johnny Cash. Lyle Lovett. The Dixie Chicks. Some of the biggest names in the history of country music — and just a few of the artists that have recorded songs written by legendary singer/songwriter Robert Earl Keen."
01/08/2013

The Moody Theatre got REK'd

Wow! A hot December night. No, REALLY, it was a hot ass Christmas show with Robert Earl Keen. The temperature outside was pretty warm for December and inside the ACL Live at The Moody Theatre it was smokin' hot.