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Robert Earl Keen

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Robert Earl Keen, Jr. (born January 11, 1956 in Houston, Texas) is an American singer-songwriter. Growing up, Keen was interested in music, sports, movies and writing. He attended Texas A&M University, enrolling in the school of journalism. Disappointed in the College Station, Texas music scene, he began playing guitar and learned to read and write music, basing his style on folk, country, blues and roots rock. In 1977 he rented a house from landlord Jack Boyett, where his neighbor was a then-unknown Lyle Lovett. The two became friends and performed together on the front porch. This eventually grew into inspiration for a song entitled “The Front Porch Song”, which both would add to their repertoire. In 1980, Keen graduated from Texas A&M, moved to Austin, Texas and began writing for a newspaper. Soon he was performing in Austin’s nightclubs and live music venues, building a solid following. In 1984 he financed the recording of his own EP and distributed it regionally. In 1986, He moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Discouraged by the polish of the new country sound and unable to land a recording contract, Keen moved back to Austin. In 1989 he released his national debut album, West Textures. His 1993 release, A Bigger Piece Of Sky, gained wider acclaim, both amongst fans and critics. Over the next ten years, Keen would continue to write, record, perform and tour. Today, he is popular with traditional country music fans, folk music fans, the college radio crowd and alt-country fans.

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country, singer-songwriter, alt-country, texas, americana
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Live from Austin Tx
Robert Earl Keen
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Walking Distance
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No.2 Live Dinner
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West Textures
Robert Earl Keen
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Top Tracks

1	Merry Christmas From The Family	580
2	Feelin' Good Again	132
3	The Road Goes On Forever	127
4	What I Really Mean	120
5	Gringo Honeymoon	112
6	That Buckin' Song full track	85
7	Dreadful Selfish Crime	84
8	I'm Comin' Home	74
9	Down That Dusty Trail full track	72
10	Copenhagen full track	66
11	Shades Of Gray	64
12	Think It Over One Time	57
13	Five Pound Bass full track	49
14	Happy Holidays Y'all full track	47
14	Whenever Kindness Fails full track	47

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xrockangelx wrote:
October 2009

Saw him at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in SF the other night! Fuckin' AWESOME! Best show I saw there!

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Pezwinter wrote:
September 2009

Did you know Robert Earl Keen is a judge for the International Songwriting Competition this year? They're giving away over $150,000 in cash and prizes along with the opportunity for one of your favorite artists to hear something you wrote! The deadline is only 2 weeks away so head over to www.songwritingcompetition.com to enter! Good luck!

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Chanter62 wrote:
April 2009

BLOODY HELL!!...The Live version of The ROad Goes on Forever is just excellent!! I had never even heard of him before....just top guitar picking too....fantastic.

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SweetMelissa12 wrote:
March 2009

Feel free to check out and join the Country Artist of the Week group. Members can vote for their favorite country artists to be the group's "Country Artist of the Week".

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RACOON013 wrote:
December 2008

good tunes

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LaughingJane wrote:
December 2008

Such a beautiful writer. I flip the birdie to anyone who calls this frat boy music, how dare you.

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Carpetbagger513 wrote:
November 2008

REK has a free live album, "Marfa After Dark" available on his Website, www.robertearlkeen.com. It's a pretty good listen, and you can't beat the price.

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aoxomoxa wrote:
November 2008

Here is a great Robert Earl Keen performance from his first Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2003: http://www.cuckoobird.net/2008/11/28/robert-earl-keen-austin-city-limits-music-festival-2003/

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phooton wrote:
November 2008

Went to see him once in Huntsville, Texas but got too drunk before he finally showed at midnight... whoops!

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phooton wrote:
November 2008

these are MUCH better on the live album...but still good, just a little slow, especially The Christmas Song.

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Gaynor7 wrote:
May 2008

It's an oh wow song for me

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browner wrote:
April 2008

where's Leavin' Tennessee!? one of my favourites.

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NordicByNature wrote:
March 2008

People don't get people.

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laqu10 wrote:
July 2007

this is cool!!!!!!!!!!!!

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_cst wrote:
July 2007

I love Corpus Christi Bay. Great song!

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qacetyl3 wrote:
May 2006

simply amazing

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