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With an organic boost from Kaufman, I went from playing the front room at Gruene Hall for a max of 150 people to playing a show in San Antonio for 1,500 people. “It was anything he liked, which turned out to be great music and a last glimpse at the influence of the DJ on radio.

“Steve talked the station into doing sort of a free-form programming format during ‘drive time,’” Robert says. Robert had no idea that his song about a couple of ill-fated lovers running afoul of the law would catapult into the stratosphere of classic Americana, but he credits DJ Steve Kaufman of San Antonio radio station KRIO for helping to start the fire. He released The Live Album and West Textures, the seminal album which debuted the rowdy rockin’ fan favorite “The Road Goes on Forever.” When he returned to Texas, Robert had a publishing deal, a new label, and a national booking agent. He worked at the legendary Hatch Show Print as a pressman. Robert began to make a name for himself when he won the Kerrville Folk Festival’s prestigious New Folk Songwriting Competition.Īfter his debut release, Robert moved to Nashville. He produced and financed his first album, No Kinda Dancer. These early days are captured in spirit on the Keen/Lyle Lovett co-write, “The Front Porch Song,” which both artists recorded on their respective debut albums, and in Happy Prisoner, REK’s bluegrass recording.įrom the beginning, Keen took the road less travelled.

#ROBERT EARL KEEN NEWBERRY OPERA HOUSE HOW TO#

By the time he entered Texas A&M University, Robert taught himself how to the play the guitar and turned his poetic musings into songs. Keen was weaned on classic rock and Willie Nelson records. The old friends opened the show for George Strait to a record-breaking audience of more than 80,000. In 2019, at a homecoming at the Houston Rodeo, Robert performed with his college friend Lyle Lovett. The Americana Podcast has furthered the interest in artists Billy Strings, Lori McKenna, Drew Holcomb and I’m With Her.Ī Houston native, Keen is one of the Lone Star State’s legendary singer-songwriters. In 2019, Americana Podcast launched with the inaugural episode featuring Jamestown Revival and Lucero. Keen continues to blaze a trail for other artists with Producer, Clara Rose, and their Americana Podcast. The Americana genre was officially recognized by the music industry in 1998 and Keen was the first artist to be featured on The Gavin Report’s Americana Music Chart and on the debut cover of its magazine. Keen has blazed a peer, critic, and fan-lauded trail that’s earned him living-legend status in the Americana music world. With a catalog of 21 albums, his band of stellar musicians, and many thousands of shows under his belt, Pollstar ranked Keen in its Top 20 Global Concert Tours in July, 2021. It’s with a mysterious concoction of joy and sadness that I want to tell you that as of September 4, 2022, I will no longer tour or perform publicly.”

“This chorus of joy, this parade of passion, this bull rush of creativity, this colony of kindness and generosity are foremost in my thoughts today. “I’ve been blessed with a lifetime of brilliant, talented, colorful, electrical, magical folks throughout my life,” Keen said.

Keen made the announcement in January, 2022, with a personal video posted on his social media accounts. Legendary Texas songwriter and entertainer Robert Earl Keen wraps up 41 years on the road with his 2022 Final Tour, I’m Comin’ Home: 41 Years On The Road. The Road Goes On Forever…until it doesn’t.

Robert earl keen newberry opera house