{"id":18034,"date":"2017-12-13T23:08:28","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T06:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=18034"},"modified":"2017-12-13T23:09:01","modified_gmt":"2017-12-14T06:09:01","slug":"videoweb-exclusive-interview-robert-earl-keen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2017\/12\/videoweb-exclusive-interview-robert-earl-keen\/","title":{"rendered":"Video+Web Exclusive Interview Robert Earl Keen"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Video Feature &amp; Web-Exclusive Interview<br \/>\nMusician:\u00a0 <strong>ROBERT EARL KEEN<\/strong><br \/>\nVideo:\u00a0 \u201c<strong>Merry Christmas from the Family<\/strong>\u201d<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p053GxJX5y8\" width=\"660\" height=\"345\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h1>ROBERT EARL KEEN\u2019S SIXTH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS TOUR WITH NEW LOOK, COUNTRY-ROCK INFLUENCE<\/h1>\n<p>Robert Earl Keen is presenting his most extensive holiday tour yet with the all-new REK\u2019s Fam-O-Lee Back to the Country Jamboree. Now in its sixth year, Keen\u2019s holiday tours have become a family tradition in his native Texas and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>The set list includes Keen classics like \u201cMerry Christmas from the Family,\u201d as well as a tip of the hat to legendary musicians like Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Dwight Yoakam and Neil Young. \u201cIt will be country but we\u2019ll explore the country-rock side of things\u2014and we might mashup a couple of tunes,\u201d Keen says.\u00a0\u201cIf you\u2019re not in the holiday spirit now, you will be when you leave this show.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The festive 19-city tour began November 27\u00a0in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and concludes December 30 in Fort Worth, Texas. Support acts on select dates of the tour include Elizabeth Cook, Doyle &amp; Debbie, Robert Ellis, and The Quebe Sisters. <em>The Huffington Post<\/em>\u00a0described the annual concert: \u201cFor the uninitiated, it\u2019s part comedy\/variety show (think\u00a0<em>The Carol Burnett Show\u00a0<\/em>of old) and part musical cornucopia that\u2019s full of pleasant surprises. It\u2019s akin to Christmas morning, but one where Keen and his merry band of musicians continue to unwrap gifts you didn\u2019t even know you were hoping for until they share them on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Keen first included \u201cMerry Christmas from the Family\u201d on his 1994 album,\u00a0<em>Gringo Honeymoon<\/em>. In 1996, it reappeared on the album\u00a0<em>No. 2 Live Dinner<\/em>, which Dualtone Records just released on vinyl for the first time on\u00a0December 10. University of Texas Press released Keen\u2019s companion book, also titled\u00a0<em>Merry Christmas from the Family<\/em>, in 2005. You may be able to catch one of the remaining shows\u2014the rest of REK\u2019s Fam-O-Lee Back to the Country Jamboree tour dates include: Oklahoma City, OK (The Jones Assembly), Fayetteville, AR (Walton Arts Center), Austin, TX (Moody Theater), Houston, TX (House of Blues), Nashville, TN (Ryman Auditorium), Dallas, TX (House of Blues), and Fort Worth, TX (Bass Performance Hall).<\/p>\n<p>We talked with Robert Earl Keen about the current Christmas Tour, his songwriting, the many people who influenced him, his recognizable sound and his unique friendship with the brilliantly innovative luthier of Collings Guitars, the late Bill Collings.<\/p>\n<h1><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18041\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-2.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-2-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/h1>\n<h1><strong>ROBERT EARL KEEN <\/strong>Web-Exclusive Interview<br \/>\nwith<strong>\u00a0<em>M Music &amp; Musicians<\/em>\u00a0magazine publisher, Merlin David<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><strong>Tell us how the idea of \u201cMerry Christmas from the Family\u201d came to you?<\/strong><br \/>\nIn November 1993, I was writing this record, <em>Gringo Honeymoon.<\/em> I knew we were starting early in the next year to record it. This was back when I used to sit down and write song after song, grinding them out. I was in a little apartment in Nashville. I hit the wall and everything I was coming up with was terrible stuff. I took a break, and thought\u2014it\u2019s OK because I have all of December to write it. But I realized, oh no\u2014December is Christmas. No one wants to do anything during that time. I won\u2019t be off the hook. I\u2019ll have to go and do things. I had this panic moment, and then I thought\u2014I\u2019m just going to write my own Christmas song. I\u2019m going to tell it the way I see it, the way I grew up with it\u2014the way it feels to me. I truly wrote this song to amuse myself.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How did that song get on the album?<\/strong><br \/>\nI played it for Garry Velletri, who worked for Bug Music and produced that record. He\u2019s a good guy and only produced two records\u2014and they were mine. He didn\u2019t even play an instrument but he was good at producing. I loved the guy. He just knew music. He was from New York and lived in Nashville for many years. When I played songs I had for Garry, he did what he would always do\u2014rub his fingers together and nod. There was never too much approval\u2014just enough to keep you going.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did you feel good about the songs you played for him?<\/strong><br \/>\nYes. Some of those songs we did are staples now. But when I finished showing him the songs he said, \u201cWhat else do you have?\u201d (<em>Laughs<\/em>) I said, \u201cI don\u2019t really have anything else.\u201d He said, \u201cNothing? You don\u2019t have anything?\u201d And I said, \u201cWell, I got <em>this<\/em>.\u201d And I played him this Christmas song. All of a sudden, this guy who hardly said two words\u2014was laughing and slapping his knee. It was surprising to me. But I realized it had done something to Garry. I was surprised. I played it in a little club, and it was like playing a hit. It was as close to the feeling of ever having a hit. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>How is this Christmas Tour different from a regular concert of yours?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt\u2019s not really about me and my songs. It\u2019s about bringing in the Christmas season. We created a big set that we carry around on a truck, and have a couple of elves that help me every year. We put up the set and think of a theme\u2014like three or four years ago we did a 70s Christmas. The whole band was dressed in 70s garb and costumes. We went as deep as singing \u201cSmoke on the Water\u201d and \u201cStairway to Heaven.\u201d To hit the high spots, we play about five or six of my songs, and of course the Christmas song, \u201cHappy Holidays Y\u2019all,\u201d which does not have the pizzazz as the first song, but we\u2019re all looking for content\u2014right? (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Have you written any other Christmas songs?<\/strong><br \/>\nNo. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) I never wanted to write follow-up songs. But one time I got into a jam with a record company. They twisted my arm to write another Christmas song, and that\u2019s how \u201cHappy Holidays Y\u2019all\u201d came out. My heart was never behind it\u2014although, now that we play it off as a big laugh, it\u2019s pretty fun. I never thought I was going to be in the Christmas business. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Has this tour become a mainstay?<\/strong><br \/>\nWe\u2019ve been doing it for a few years. It\u2019s a regular show, and it\u2019s also a dilemma. I can\u2019t quite get away from it, and I don\u2019t know if I wanna get away from it. Every year we start cranking up again. It\u2019s not about being a touring band anymore. It\u2019s a show. This is pretty much doing the same show every night\u2014we have set pieces moving and the way we move the guys in an out\u2014which is not like my regular show which is different from night to night. In these shows, each band member plays a part of a song just to get the idea across. It truly just grew from playing a lot shows in December.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18038\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"856\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-1.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-1-231x300.jpg 231w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-1-300x389.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>How did this show evolve?<\/strong><br \/>\nYears ago, I used to play about an hour and a half before I played the Christmas song, and then everyone would be happy. I felt people in December wanted the Christmas songs\u2014and waited for it. I swear they\u2019d blank out until I played the Christmas song and then they\u2019d jump up and holler, have a good time, and go home and be happy. The rest of the set seemed like window dressing. In an effort to amuse ourselves a little bit more, we started dressing up in costumes. One time I hired an actor who played Scrooge for us. It began the show that way, and in the middle he did a 10-minute soliloquy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Your band seems integral in this show.<\/strong><br \/>\nThe band actually made a really great record of all the happy Holiday songs, like \u201cWinter Wonderland,\u201d but it\u2019s an instrumental swing record. They used to open the show, but that got so crazy\u2014all of them changing costumes from being The Xmas Men. These guys are great players, but that got complicated. So we pared it down to having a theme, and we get a really strong opening act like Doyle &amp; Debbie, Robert Ellis, and others. Last year we had the Hot Club of Cowtown. We get strong, like-minded acts to go along. This show is only slightly different from last year which was the Family Country Gold Jamboree\u2014honoring Bob Wills and some of that old stuff. This year we\u2019re doing Neil Young\u2019s \u201cBack to the Country,\u201d and it\u2019s basically a country-rock show.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Were there any Christmas albums you listened to when you were growing up?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt was pretty limited. Willie Nelson is one of my favorites. And the only song I can remember is \u201cPretty Paper\u201d\u2014one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who inspired you to write songs?<\/strong><br \/>\nMy mother had a great deal to do with my love of verse and music. She gave me a quarter for memorizing poems\u2014Robert Frost, Lord Byron, Countee Cullen, Robert Browning. She also listened to country music. She loved Eddie Arnold and Marty Robbins. The first song I remember knowing from beginning to end was Gordon Lightfoot\u2019s \u201cRibbon of Darkness\u201d that was a Marty Robbins single. Lovely melody and Marty\u2019s voice was unmatched.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18037\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-3-Collings-Guitars.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"990\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-3-Collings-Guitars.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-3-Collings-Guitars-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-3-Collings-Guitars-300x450.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you remember the first songs you wrote?<\/strong><br \/>\nI sang for my mother. I was eight. I didn\u2019t know that people wrote songs as a way to make a living. I thought it was fun and that music just swelled up and came out of you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Top 5 musicians who inspired you?<\/strong><br \/>\nWillie Nelson, Norman Blake, Freddie King, John Hartford, Lyle Lovett.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us how Willie Nelson inspired you?<\/strong><br \/>\nWillie Nelson caught my ear in a musical way. I loved that muted velvet sound of his classical guitar. \u201cHello Walls\u201d was the first song I learned to play on the guitar.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How about Norman Blake?<\/strong><br \/>\nNorman Blake influenced me in a way that no one else could. He played the rhythm and sang, and then he picked the melody. I thought that was the most authentic way one could perform a song. No tricks, just beautiful playing and pretty good singing. When I realized Norman wrote many of his songs, I wanted to be Norman.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us about Freddie King.<\/strong><br \/>\nI loved Freddie King. He was one of the first concerts I ever saw\u2014Freddie sweating his butt off\u2014belting out the blues like he invented it. Well, I wanted to me Freddie for a while after that concert. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>How about John Hartford?<\/strong><br \/>\nJohn Hartford was a big influence primarily because he taught me to love the sound of a banjo. Hartford\u2019s \u201cGentle on My Mind\u201d is my all-time favorite song. There will only be one Hartford.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18036\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18036\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18036\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"828\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-4.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-4-239x300.jpg 239w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-4-300x376.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-18036\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Robert Earl Keen, photographed in Kerrville, Texas on July 4 2016. Photograph \u00a9 2016 Darren Carroll<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>How does Lyle Lovett continue to inspire you?<\/strong><br \/>\nMy friend Lyle Lovett is maybe my biggest influence. He showed me how to put it all together. The songwriting, the playing, performing\u2014he had it all from the time I met him. I\u2019m not sure I would have stayed in music if it weren\u2019t for him.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What are your Top 5 favorite albums?<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Chicken Skin Music<\/em> (1976) \u2013 Ry Cooder<br \/>\n<em>Shotgun Willie<\/em> (1973) \u2013 Willie Nelson<br \/>\n<em>Rumor and Sigh<\/em> (1991) \u2013 Richard Thompson<br \/>\n<em>Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas<\/em> (1977) \u2013 Townes Van Zandt<br \/>\n<em>The Fields of November<\/em> (1974) \u2013 Norman Blake<\/p>\n<p><strong>Which instruments\/equipment can you not live without?<\/strong><br \/>\nI can\u2019t live without any of my instruments. I love them all. Most are guitars, but I have mandolins, ukes, an upright bass, a cello, banjos, electric guitars and all kinds of percussion stuff. I sold one guitar years ago, and I wish I had it back. It was a Martin D-35, and I wanted to get a D-28. I play Collings guitars. I write with a guitar most of the time. I have a lot of Collings Guitars, and those instruments help my sound. Steve McCreary and I have been pals forever. He\u2019s done so much for me. I met Bill Collings through Lyle, just about a year after Lyle met Bill\u2014he was a real smart man. The first Collings guitar I got was around 1992-93. It\u2019s a really nice parlor guitar. Then he made me a custom guitar\u2014and that\u2019s the one I play <em>all<\/em> the time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us why Collings Guitars are important to you and your sound.<\/strong><br \/>\nCollings guitars are special, but it\u2019s hard to put your finger on what makes them that way. Actually maybe that\u2019s the answer. When you put your finger, or fingers, on a Collings guitar you feel special, like you\u2019re holding the perfect instrument. Corny? \u00a0Maybe, but I\u2019m not kidding. My first Collings, \u201cthe bass,\u201d is as true and perfect as the day Bill Collings handed it to me. More so, actually. And every single time I let someone play \u201cthe butte\u201d circa 2007, they stop mid-riff and say, \u201cWhat the hell? Where did you get this guitar?\u201d I say, \u201cI got it from Bill Collings.\u201d\u00a0Wow! I miss that brilliant, zany, take-it-to the-edge-everyday man. God bless him.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18035\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-5-Collings-Guitars.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"990\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-5-Collings-Guitars.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-5-Collings-Guitars-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Earl-Keen-5-Collings-Guitars-300x450.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you remember the first time you heard one of your songs on the radio?<\/strong><br \/>\nI don\u2019t remember hearing my songs on the radio\u2014I\u2019ve missed that somehow. However, we were traveling across Kansas in our trusty RV, going west, listening to NPR. They ended a segment with a song from my best friend, Bryan Duckworth, who was in the band at the time. The song was called \u201cClamboree.\u201d Playing a bad note in a song is called a clam. The song had numerous, albeit intentional \u201cclams,\u201d in the body of the piece. It was a scream. We laughed all the way to Colorado.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What PRO (Performing Rights Organization) are you with?<\/strong><br \/>\nBMI\u2014long time BMI. When somebody asks me, a kid or anyone who asks, what they should do, I tell them, \u201cPick one that works for you. I\u2019m with BMI. I like them. But go to one and sign up. It is their job to help their writers. That\u2019s what BMI has done for me. They helped me when all else failed. When I was flailing out there in the ocean, somebody finally threw me a life raft. It was always BMI. I owe a lot to my long-time friend over there, Jody Williams.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s next?<\/strong><br \/>\nWell, right now it\u2019s all about the Fam-O-Lee Back to the Country Jamboree. Come out and have a little fun with us.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where can your new fans get more info and stay updated?<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.RobertEarlKeen.com\">www.RobertEarlKeen.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Video Feature &amp; Web-Exclusive Interview Musician:\u00a0 ROBERT EARL KEEN Video:\u00a0 \u201cMerry Christmas from the Family\u201d \ufeff ROBERT EARL KEEN\u2019S SIXTH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS TOUR WITH NEW LOOK, COUNTRY-ROCK INFLUENCE Robert Earl Keen is presenting his most extensive holiday tour yet with the all-new REK\u2019s Fam-O-Lee Back to the Country Jamboree. Now in its sixth year, Keen\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18040,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7725],"tags":[3782,5879,9189,3592,10427,10428,10429,10430,10431,3779,10432,10433,10434,10435,10436,4631,10437,10438,10439,10440,5332,10441,9456,3724,10442,10443,10444,10445,10446,8373,8436,10447,10448,3121,10161,7566,10449,3277,4341,3010,10450,7978,1082,10451,10452,8811,10453,10454,2331,10455,2825,2527,6264,10456,10457,5079,10458,10459,10460,10461,10462,10463,10464,1609,3643,5578,2005,7982],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18034"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18034"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18042,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18034\/revisions\/18042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}