Courtesy All Eyes Media
Robert Earl Keen
Singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen likes to joke that “no cymbals were harmed” in the making of his latest record, Ready for Confetti.
A musically light, rhythmically bouncy record, Keen’s 15th album is another twist in the always-intriguing catalog of the 55-year-old Texan songwriting star. Keen and his band play Minglewood Hall on Thursday.
With Confetti, Keen once again worked with a tightly knit crew of collaborators, including the same road band he’s had since the late ’90s along with longtime producer Lloyd Maines.
Even after three decades, for Keen, making records remains a kind of translation process.
“There’s always a strange disconnect in what I hear in my head and what I finally put down on tape, but usually that’s a totally positive thing,” he says.
“Once I get in the studio, and start putting together these sounds, it goes from a guy with a guitar into a real piece of music that someone can sing, or dance, or tap their toe too,” says Keen. “We sort of build it like a house plan; pour a foundation, start hammering the wood, and then go from there.”
Starting with his 1984 debut album, No Kinda Dancer, Keen has been refining his craft on record. “Back then I wasn’t sure what a good song was and what wasn’t. From a writer’s standpoint, I just wanted all pieces to fit well,” he says.
“Going into the studio, I was so green and wide-eyed. I was even unfamiliar with the jargon of recording.”
After years grinding it out on the touring circuit, Keen belatedly released his second album in 1989. Recorded in Nashville, the LP West Textures featured his signature song and breakthrough, “The Road Goes On Forever.”
“I drove to Nashville on my last tank of gas, and finished that song the weekend before the session,” says Keen.
Finally, four years later, Keen would paint his masterpiece, with 1993’s A Bigger Piece of the Sky, which remains a personal favorite for the singer.
“I felt like I’d jumped a gap there or something,” he says. “It took a while to make the album. I didn’t have a record deal. I really went outside the system, made the record on my own. The songs are fun and edgy, and some of them are weird. And that’s how we approached it.”
“I wasn’t feeling so confined, wanting or caring about being a country songwriter or a folk songwriter,’ says Keen.
Since then, he has crafted 10 more albums, some for major labels like Arista, and currently, for Universal’s Lost Highway imprint.
Keen’s finely etched narratives continue to evolve, and he has created a catalog with lasting appeal.
It’s a body of work that Keen often explores during his famously communal live shows. “People want to hear a lot of older things, but there’s stuff I avoid — if a song is too sleepy or feels cliché. But, in general, I’m always going back through things. Going back and tweaking songs that we can do as a band.”
As he approaches his late 50s, Keen’s goals remain simple: to continue to write and write well.
“I would like to write a musical sometime, but I don’t know really how to enter that world,” he says. “But, in general, as far as songwriting goes, the sky’s the limit. As long as I feel like I’m relevant, I’ll keep doing it.”
Robert Earl Keen, Emory Quinn
Thursday at Minglewood Hall, 1555 Madison. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance, $22 day of show. Limited table seating is available by calling (901) 312-6058. To purchase or for more information, go to minglewoodhall.com.
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