New release Robert Earl Keen
Robert Earl Keen
‘Western Chill’ Boxed Set
Out Now
“Quitting the road doesn’t mean I’m dead, and it doesn’t mean I’m going to quit producing stuff,”
Robert Earl Keen
Texas Americana legend Robert Earl Keen announced his retirement from touring last September and a glimpse of his new extensive offering Western Chill finds him in a relaxed, semi-retirement mode.
His new release is not just a fourteen-song collection (currently you can’t buy it by itself). It comes in a boxed set, including a 92-page graphic novel inspired by the album, a play-along/sing-along songbook for all fourteen songs, and a DVD of the Robert Earl Keen Band performing the entire new album at Keen’s Snake Barn studio space.
For the foreseeable future there will be no download or streaming links, so fans are encouraged to dive into the entirety of Western Chill the way it was intended – in its tactile totality.
Western Chill Tracklist:
Western Chill
Blue Light (feat. Bill Whitbeck)
Waves (feat. Brian Beken)
Hello Stranger (feat. Kym Warner)
The City (feat. Brian Beken)
Let’s Valet
Balmorhea
Marfa
Bone and Flowers (feat. Bill Whitbeck)
Sweet Summer Rain
Mister Mockingbird (feat. Bill Whitbeck)
Mr. Blues on the Run
Walking On
Rippling Waters
From all reports, this new album is packed with enough surprises to keep even the most seasoned fan guessing what’s coming next. The opening title track (clip above) seemingly sets the mood for the whole collection.
More about the graphic novel: “My wife, Kathleen, came up with the idea for that” admits Keen, who despite not being particularly well versed in the medium beyond R. Crumb and old Superman comics was game from the get-go. So, too, was Devin McCue, a talented writer friend of Clara Rose (producer and co-creator of the popular “Americana Podcast: The 51st State”). After McCue penned the script (working off Keen’s storyline involving a fictional Texas troubadour named “Zane” literally chasing an elusive song from College Station all the way out to Marfa and back), the project ultimately landed in the tenacious and capable hands of father/daughter team Scott Faris and Rachel Faris Ross and primary illustrator Bryan Burke.
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More Music Adventures Await!
New release Robert Earl Keen
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