Robert Earl Keen and Race Ricketts

Born to an oil executive father and an attorney mother, Keen was exposed to their love of folk and country, to which he would later blend when constructing his own style. It was quite late by the time Keen started to learn the guitar, waiting until he had started attending Texas A&M University, although he was a keen writer of poetry all throughout high school.

He recorded his self-financed debut album, "No Kinda Dancer," in 1984, which made a splash on the Austin, US, music scene. He moved to Nashville shortly after, mixing with the likes of Lyle Lovett and K.D. Lang, who had begun to create top ten country hits. Soon he returned back to Texas, finding inspiration there for his second album, "West Textures," which contained the crime-spree tale, "The Road Goes on Forever," becoming one of Keen's signature songs. Signed to Sugar Hill Records, he waited until 1993 to follow this release, with 1993's "A Bigger Piece of Sky," containing the hit song "Corpus Christi Bay." "Gringo Honeymoon" followed a year later, which featured the guitar talents of Gurf Morfix.

Keen continued to grow in popularity release after release, with a relentless touring schedule that would often see him attend over 200 dates a year bolstering his presence on the country music scene. In 2001, he gained his biggest chart success with "Gravitational Forces," which reached number 10 on the US Country Charts and number one on the US Heat charts. His subsequent albums continued to fair well in the country charts, all being in the top 40. Keen also helped coordinate the annual Texas Uprising festival, which took place in several venues in the state, acting as a talent festival for up-and-coming artists.