8 BUDDY MARCH 2019

BUDDYTHE ORIGINAL TEXAS MUSIC MAGAZINE

MARCH 2018VOLUME XLVI, NUMBER 9

Imagine growing up in thatbarren wasteland of pulp coun-try, and finally finding some-thing that spoke to your genera-tion. As you fumbled throughthe console of your cousin’spickup truck, looking for rem-nants of snuff in a forgottenCopenhagen can, or the last sipof warm cheap beer as you andyour underage friends shot roadsigns; you found a cassette tapeof Robert Earl Keen’s West Tex-tures. For my generation of some-what shiftless miscreants whowould eventually become pro-ductive members of society; itwas the gateway drug to realTexas Music.

Thirty years later, the roadreally does seem like it could goon forever. Robert Earl Keen iswriting and still playing his ownbrand of Texas music, still lead-ing, creating and shaping thelandscape of independent Texasmusic. This year he will be head-lining the 23rd Texas Music Revo-

lution on March 29th and 30th inPlano, Texas.

RevolutionI THINK THOMAS JEFFERSONhimself believed that a little re-bellion or revolution “every nowand then was a good thing.” Ifthat’s true, then a little TexasMusic Revolution every year isprobably a good thing too. You’remuch less likely to get killed atTMR than an old timey revolu-tion, and there’s a zero percentchance of seeing a Little Texasrevival on stage, so everyonewins.

Ahead of headlining at TMR,I had the chance to catch up withREK and the road that broughthim through A&M to Nashvilleand back again to his uniqueplace in Texas music. Keen re-flects,

“You know, I have done a lotof things by the seat of my pants.I think that as long as I keepdoing that and keep doing new

things then I will keep havingnew music and make it work.”

Keen was fortunate to havestarted his music career at theconfluence of outlaw country,folk and bluegrass, but the as themainstream music industrycouldn’t quite find a box to puthim in, he found a place to createsomething new and different. AsKeen relates,

“I’m the original outlier. Theview is better. I don’t necessarilygo into anything trying to bedifferent. I’m at the headspacewhere I really just do what Iwant.”

That journey started early forKeen, as he recalls, “I was a writerat eight. Music came later. Starteda band, The Front Porch Boys atA&M. I’ve never looked back.When I was young we woulddrive to the ranch. All the waythere and all the way back wewould sing in the car. Some-where along the line, I realized away to entertain my family, andI would make up these little songs

and they got a kick out of them.”

Story and placeTHE HALLMARK OF KEEN’Smusic has always been story andplace. He’s always been quick,even downright funny, throughhis songwriting. Over the years,he’s crafted so many narrativesin his lyrics that bring fiction toreality, or reality to fiction, thatbring to mind some of his origi-nal influences. Keen says, “Thefirst person I realized wrote songsand did something that was re-ally of great interest to me in thesongwriting world was MartyRobbins. He wrote GunfighterBallads and Trail Songs, and therewere a couple of songs thatweren’t his, but he wrote most ofthem. As I went along I pickedup more people. That would beWillie Nelson, Marty Robbins,Loudon Wainright—he mustwrite a song every day or some-thing—Richard Thompson, andI’d have to say Lucinda Williamstoo. There are a jillion other pe-

ripheral influences.”At his core, Keen is a master-

ful songwriter. I asked about hiscurrent writing and for a littleinsight on the source for the startof song, he responded, “I’m writ-ing music right now for a newproject for later this year. I’mvery visual in my thinking whenI write a song.

“So I start with some sort ofsetting that I remember or hadsome impact—anywhere fromsitting by a pond fishing or walk-ing down a road, or what I amlooking at that time. I feel likethe way to construct a song withsome sort of narrative value iscreating the setting. I am veryvisually oriented. I think the set-ting is just as important as any-thing else. I am much the sameperson I was when I first startedwriting songs ... maybe wiserand more open to different con-cepts.”

The setting roots his music inplace and time, but his charac-ters are universal and unforget-

table. After thirty years of listen-ing, I feel like I may have gone toschool with Sonny, or at leastSherry from “The Road Goes onForever.” I’m pretty sure I wasoutworked by Mariano a time ortwo digging trenches for the ParksDepartment. And I’ve alwayswanted to celebrate Christmaswith the family, all the way downto the Salem Lights.

Like the characters broughtto life in his music, the castaround Keen has also changedover the years. The current lineup includes Tom Van Schaik ondrums, Brian Beken on fiddleand Kym Warner on mandolinand Buddy Texas Tornados BillWhitbeck on bass and MartyMuse on steel guitar. Each comesfrom a variety of backgroundsand musical traditions, but onekey element binds them together.Keen said, “The guys that playwith me are world class musi-cians. Good People. They’re ev-ery bit as passionate about musicas I am. It’s the passion thatkeeps us going.”

Keen’s handcrafted music isone of my favorite Texas tradi-tions, and for the past few yearshe’s been blending the same spiritinto my second favorite Texastradition. A good craft beer issongwriting in liquid form, six isa symphony, and you can findRobert Earl Keen’s namesake beerin coolers across the country. Iasked how the beer became athing, Keen said, “The short storyis we were discussing crafting abeer and then ran into Lee Here-ford from Pedernales inFredericksburg, Texas. Wetalked all about the kind of beerthat I liked and what kind of beerI would want to put out. We sataround for about two days anddrank beer. So there was a lot ofR&D going into this beer pro-cess.”

It’s only fitting that at thispoint in Keen’s career, he wouldbe headlining the Texas MusicRevolution this year in Plano.Men like Stephen Austin, SamHouston, Jim Bowie, DavyCrockett and William Travis wonthe first one with guns and blood.Willie won the second one withTrigger and a lifetime of song.But you need a continued spiritof revolt and individuality to keepthe automatons from taking overmusic as we know it, so go outand support the 23rd revolutionby buying a ticket for TMR March29 and 30 in Plano, Texas. Youmight pick up a six-pack ofPedernales’ Robert Earl KeenHoney Pilsner on the way. We allneed to do our part to supportthe revolution.

¡Viva la Revolución!Robert Earl Keen leads the 2019 Texas Music Revolution.

By S.D. HendersonHARKEN BACK FOR A MOMENT TO THEHancient times, back to the late nineteenHeighties. These were dark times, troubledtimes, for those growing up in Texas. Looking forsomething to listen to that sounded more likeTexas, less like Alabama, and nothing like Nash-ville. Our forefathers grew up on Willie and Waylon,maybe a little Jerry Jeff or Townes Van Zandt, butwe were left with nothing but an endless sea ofRestless Heart. Like I mentioned before, these weredark times.

“I was a writer at eight. Musiccame later. Started a band,The Front Porch Boys at A&M.I’ve never looked back. When Iwas young we would drive tothe ranch. All the way thereand all the way back we wouldsing in the car. Somewherealong the line, I realized a wayto entertain my family, and Iwould make up these littlesongs and they got a kick out ofthem.”

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–ROBERT EARL KEEN

He will headline the Texas Music Revolution this year in Plano : Robert Earl Keen