The Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, in partnership with Flying Saucer Presents, recently announced the return of legendary Americana pioneer Robert Earl Keen on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Keen previously performed at the Concert Hall in March 2017.
“I always thought that I wanted to play music, and I always knew that you had to get some recognition in order to continue to play music,” Keen said about wanting to write and sing his own songs, and to keep writing and singing them for as long as possible. “But I never thought of it in terms of getting to be a big star. I thought of it in terms of having a really, really good career and writing some good songs, and getting onstage and having a really good time.”
Now three-decades on from the release of his debut album - with 19 other records to his name - Keen remains as committed to and inspired by his muse as ever.
And as for accruing recognition, well, he's done alright on that front, too; from his humble beginnings on the Texas folk scene, he's blazed a peer, critic and fan-lauded trail that's earned him living-legend status in the Americana music world. And though the Houston native has never worn his Texas heart on his sleeve, he's long been regarded as one of the Lone Star State's finest, not to mention top-drawing, true singer-songwriters. He was still a relative unknown in 1989 when his third studio album, West Textures, was released, especially on the triple bill he shared at the time touring with legends Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, but once fellow Texas icon Joe Ely recorded both "The Road Goes on Forever" and "Whenever Kindness Fails" on his 1993 album, Love and Danger, the secret was out on Keen's credentials as a songwriter's songwriter.
By the end of the decade, Keen was a veritable household name in Texas, headlining a millennial New Year's Eve celebration in Austin that drew an estimated 200,000 people. A dozen years later, he was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame along with the late, great Van Zandt and his longtime friend from Texas A & M, Lyle Lovett.
Tickets for Robert Earl Keen went on sale last Friday. Tickets for Robert Earl Keen are available for purchase at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall and St. Augustine Amphitheatre box offices, ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster outlets.
