In a few more hours, fans of Robert Earl Keen will lift their longnecks high inside Billy Bob's Texas and roar when he rips into his
signature ballad, "The Road Goes On Forever." But right now, he's sitting on his bus parked near the Fort Worth bar's stage door, discussing
the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre and Gustave Flaubert.
"I was watching an episode of The Sopranos, and someone mentioned Madame Bovary," he says, smiling sheepishly and pulling the book from
his bag. "I thought, 'You know, I've never read that.' "
Back Home to Texas
Robert Earl has followed the familiar path of many Texas troubadours. A native of Houston, he jammed with Lyle Lovett at Texas A&M University,
and then, on the advice of Steve Earle, he headed for Nashville.
Two years later, in the grand tradition of Bob Wills, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings, he turned his back on Tennessee and came home. Just
like those three, he wandered among clubs and festival stages from deep East Texas to the Panhandle to the Rio Grande Valley and built a national
reputation. His music, like most Texas music, comes from distant roads, brought here from all over--up from Mexico and west from the Deep South.
Writer on the Road
The sum of all those sounds enriches his music too. Robert Earl adds the words at his "Scriptorium" beside his house in Bandera. There, he
has learned to combine action with emotion and move a story in a single line.
With this night's performance, he will end a long tour and head for home. At 10:30 p.m. his fans have waited long enough. "Robert Earl Keen,
Robert Earl Keen…" they chant until he puts aside Madame Bovary and hits the stage. Two hours later, he swings into an encore of "The Road
Goes on Forever." The fans leap to their feet and shout out the lyrics with him, lifting their longnecks to the music and the road that
never ends.
Robert Earl's best: Robert Earl has released more than 11 CDs and written more than 100 songs, but his No. 2 Live Dinner recorded at
Floore's Country Store in Helotes, and his latest, What I Really Mean, are among the best. Up-and-coming Lone Star State musical stars
include Austin artists Ruthie Foster and Gary Clark, Jr., and the Eli Young Band from Denton.
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