Your Country's Right Here: Robert Earl Keen Showers Fans with 'Confetti'
posted in: Country • Music News
It’s always a bit depressing when a critic beats you to the punch on wording you wanted to claim as your own.
In this case, the accolade concerns Robert Earl Keen who in August released his sixteenth studio album Ready for Confetti on the Lost Highway label. In reviewing the album, a critic for PopMatters said Keen is “what a country artist should be.” Darn! That was supposed to be our line! Well, suffice to say we second that superlative.
“I’ve definitely gotten braver through the years,” said Keen of the latest recording in his thirty-plus-year career. “We used the same studio and the same bunch of [players] and we definitely knew what we were doing and consequently wanted to beef it up.”
Keen credited a large portion of the artistic freedom he felt to the groove he and producer Lloyd Maines (Dixie Chicks, Flatlanders) formed. That artistic kinship started when Maines produced Keen’s 2009 album The Rose Hotel and has continually deepened. Add to that Keen using the same musicians for recording and touring”something of an anomaly in country music”and you can understand why the album flows so smoothly.
Just before playing a large festival in Texas last weekend at which he shared a bill with Jack Ingram and Reckless Kelly, Keen said he knew the variety of formats onthe album”everything from almost classic country to a bit of Jimmy Buffett-flavored beach music”would take some listeners by surprise. Still, he felt a comfort level and a strength that made him take the sonic plunge.
He chuckled a bit when discussing the album linear notes. There he writes of a personal revelation while fishing”how life goes on whether you are actively involved or not. That was one watershed moment that bolstered his resolve to expand his music.
And, boy, did he. Think of the songs on the album as something akin to a sonic version of the best carnival you can imagine, since likening them to confetti would be cheating. Although Keen and his team were confident in the strength of the songs”most of which he solely wrote”the players cautioned Keen some might not receive a positive reception from fans.
“They were saying ‘This is a reggae song. They will give you [grief] for that,'” said Keen of his band’s reaction. “I just said I don’t care. We’re doing it.”
Keen listened to various artists including Jackson Browne and songs such as “Soldier of Love” before he began to write for this album. The influences are heard throughout Confetti.
“‘Soldier of Love’ I must have listened to 100 times,” he said. “Listening to a lot of different artists had a lot to do [with fueling my creativity]. What I loved about them was their depth. I’d listen to some songs over and over and cover and think about what I could do in the studio.”
Clearly, Keen was right to follow his instincts as evidenced by the critical acclaim the album has received. Watch for Ready for Confetti on many “Best of” lists this year.
To find out more about Robert Earl Keen, his music and upcoming tour dates, go to his Web site.
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