A man can't have too many guitars or too many shotguns."
- Robert Earl Keen
Hopefully, you're familiar with the great Texas Singer/Songwriter, Robert Earl Keen. If you're a casual music fan, you might only know him by his song, Merry Christmas From the Family. He has other songs.
My buddy, Tim, and I went to see him one time in Memphis. It was a good show. A personal story from the outing also occurred involving Mexican food and heavy sweet perfume. It's probably best that I tell you that one in person. Ask me about it if you're interested.
Keen was making a name for himself as a writer and performer in Texas in the early 1980s. People in the know encouraged him to move to Nashville and write for others as so many do. Trying to take his career to the “next level,” he relocated to the music city in 1985 with his girlfriend and future wife, Kathleen. I saw him interviewed about the two years he spent there trying to make a go of it. He said it was an unfulfilling experience, writing for someone else. He wasn't good at it. It felt inauthentic By 1987, career frustration and strained finances brought things to a head one evening at a Chinese restaurant “way down town.” Keen said that during the meal he had what most would call a nervous breakdown. It was the low point needed to spark a move back to Texas and for better or worse, be himself. It turned out for the better.
He took the incident and made it into a fine tune called, Then Came Lo Mein. Enjoy. Incidentally, the female singing with him here is Margo Timmons. You might know her from Cowboy Junkies.
Oh, and happy birthday to Bjork (1965)