A friend suggested at a party Saturday night that I move away from Dylan blogging for a while and talk a little about Robert Earl Keen. I thought it was a good idea.

REK is a Texas hero. His music isn’t the new Texas of shopping malls, Top 40 girl singers and extreme patriotism, nor is it about the old Texas of cowboys and horses.

Keen’s music chronicles the lives of working class people. Their ups and, mostly, downs. He writes epic stories about not-so-epic people who find themselves in difficult situations. The fact that none of his songs have ever been made into a movie is a major surprise to me.

His best known song is “The Road Goes on Forever,” about Sonny and Sherry, two casual acquaintances who have both reached dead ends, take a chance on each other and end up changing their lives… forever.

Sherry was a waitress at the only joint in town
She had a reputation as a girl who’d been around
Down Main Street after midnight with a brand new pack of cigs
A fresh one hangin’ from her lips and a beer between her legs
She’d ride down to the river and meet with all her friends
The road goes on forever and the party never ends

You can listen to some of REK’s songs here for free.

Keen got his start in Austin, playing local dives and frat parties. He’s not exactly the frat boy type, but, for whatever reason, they still flock to his shows. Keen eventually made a disastrous move to Nashville, after Steve Earle told him that he needed to suffer for his music. Suffer he did, finally retreating back to Texas where he managed to regroup and then began having fun again.

Keen’s upcoming spring tour doesn’t include a stop in Chicago, where he always packs ‘em in. But if he gets close again, I’ll make sure to let you know.

If I could live my life all over
It wouldn’t matter anyway
‘Cuz I never could stay sober
On the Corpus Christi Bay