Texas icon and journeyman Robert Earl Keen has been tapped for the “Dream Co-Writer” spot in the 2021 American Songwriter Lyric Contest. 

Jerry Jeff Walker was known to the world as a first-rate singer, songwriter, and performer. In Texas, the longtime Austinite was also regarded as a generous friend and mentor. (And a prodigious partier.) As Lyle Lovett, one of the most famous recipients of his bigheartedness, told us, “Jerry Jeff helped to introduce so many other songwriters, like Guy Clark, Gary Nunn, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Michael Murphey. He was a great supporter of his friends.” The list of musicians who were indebted to him reads like a who’s who of two or perhaps three generations of Texas country artists. To commemorate Jerry Jeff’s death last Friday, we reached out to many of his friends and colleagues to share their memories of him and their thoughts about his life and his influence. Most of them didn’t want to stop talking.

PHOTO:

Jerry Jeff Walker in Gruene, Texas, 1979.

Scott Newton

Earlier this week Texas Governor Greg Abbott officially declared Oct. 20, 2020 to be "Three Twenties and a Ten Day" here in Texas, an honor of Feelin' Good Again written and performed by Texas Music Legend Robert Earl Keen. 

2020 Swan Songs Serenade

Sunday, October 25, 2020 – 7 PM CT; opening Happy Hour at 6:30 PM CT

www.swansongs.org – for tickets and more information

I am thrilled to announce that I will be a part of Let the Music Play On, the Hardly Strictly Broadcast airing the first weekend in October  in celebration HSB’s 20th Anniversary. Follow @hardlystrictlybluegrass and visit hardlystrictlybluegrass.com for news and updates @markulriksenart #LetTheMusicPlayOn

August 7, 2020, Nashville, TN... Americana pioneer, musical troubadour, Robert Earl Keen, brings his Americana Podcast: The 51st State to the American Songwriter Podcast Network with new episodes starting September 1, with guest Lori McKenna. In August, listeners will be able to catch-up on all 19 episodes of the series which features in-depth interviews with the most exciting artists in the Americana genre. Guests on the wildly popular series have included Jamestown Revival, The Milk Carton Kids, Chris Shiflet, Mandolin Orange, Drew Holcomb, Lucero, The White Buffalo, and I’m With Her. 

The entire show is now on REK TV for your viewing pleasure. Watch it now.

Due to circumstances beyond our control and in an effort to keep us all safe, Robert Earl Keen’s 4^th of July on the River has been cancelled, however, the City of Kerrville,  Keen Productions and ArcadiaLive are embracing this change and have joined forces to bring you the 10^th Anniversary of Kerrville’s Independence Day Celebration directly to you!!

Beloved Texas singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen has announced a pair of shows at one of the Lone Star State’s best-known venues. On June 12th and 13th, Keen will perform at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, marking one of the first indoor concerts since the COVID-19 pandemic forced stay-at-home orders.

Texan Robert Earl Keen has maintained a rare consistency as a performer and songwriter for over three decades. His material has been recorded by George Strait, the Dixie Chicks and others, but he is still best known as an artist who can bring a room to a hushed silence with just his voice and guitar. The song that many of his followers might vote their favorite is his upbeat homecoming anthem, “Feelin’ Good Again.”

The Internet abounds with theories about what the lyric really means, so American Songwriter asked the author himself what was on his mind when he penned this classic. 

MARCH 7, 2020 REK IN KERRVILLE FOR ONE VERY SPECIAL NIGHT! Back by popular demand, his VERY special guests, highly acclaimed The Quebe Sisters!

“If you want Christmas music,” Robert Earl Keen told the Lincoln Theater recently, “go to the mall.” REK’s Countdown to Christmas Tour steered clear of holiday music until the encore, when he played the fan-favorite “Merry Christmas from the Family,” an ode to the dysfunction and craziness of the holidays.

Texas troubadour’s annual holiday trek features an outer-space theme

By: Joseph Hudack, Rolling Stone

Singer, songwriter, and entertainer, Robert Earl Keen, announced the launch of his eighth annual Christmas show with his most extensive tour yet. Following the success of his 2018 sold-out Christmas tour, Keen and his band are expanding to twenty cities in the month of December. Austin-based swamp-pop soul supergroup, Shinyribs, will join in the opening slot.

By Chuck Yarborough, The Plain Dealer CLEVELAND, Ohio — Scientists theorize that faster-than-light travel is impossible. Those scientists clearly have never experienced a Cleveland summer of music.

Robert Earl Keen announces the launch of his eighth annual Christmas show with his most extensive tour yet! Following the success of his 2018 sold-out Christmas run, Keen and his band are expanding the tour to more cities than ever before, beginning December 2 in Greenville, South Carolina and concluding December 30 in Fort Worth, Texas. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 9, at 10:00 AM. 

Robert Earl Keen came through and played a fun show at the Riverwind Casino Showplace Theatre this past Saturday.

With Turnpike Troubadours on an indefinite hiatus their Medicine Stone music festival was down a headliner, until yesterday. Festival organizers announced on Monday (June 24) that perhaps the only man who could justifiably fill their shoes will in fact fill their shoes.

May 16, 2019, Nashville, TN... Robert Earl Keen announces upcoming tour dates for June and July, including performances with Tyler Childers, Turnpike Troubadours and The Lone Bellow. The sixteen shows are all on sale this week with dates in Montana, Colorado, Texas, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Keen is also performing with Childers at Red Rocks on September 30, which sold-out in 48 hours, and will be appearing at the inaugural Railbird Festival on August 10 in Lexington, KY with The Raconteurs and Brandi Carlisle.