After having my own booksigning at Barnes and Noble across the street, I headed to the Robert Earl Keen show at the very formal Bass Concert Hall in Ft. Worth. I bought tickets outside from Group adVantage, a travel agency from Boston who were generous to me with some extra tickets. I ended up sitting on the fourth row. I say, if you want to travel, head out with Group adVantage from Boston. They knew to include a Keen show in their itinerary.

I've been listening to Robert Earl Keen since "Jr." followed his name, and I knew this concert hall would inspire another transformation. He played the coffeehouse at Schreiner University in Kerrville back before he even had an album. I've heard him rock the house at Luckenbach, and he's become a favorite on college campuses.

Brian Duckworth, his longtime friend and fiddle-player has retired, and the leads are carried by Rich Brotherton on guitar. And carry those leads he does! Bill Whitbeck on bass is joining Rich in adding harmony to some of those stark Keen songs. Another step in the evolution of a performance.

Stepping out on stage, wearing all black, Robert Earl Keen delivered a new song with haunting minor chords, beginning, "It's been a long hot summer and not a drop of rain." His new album, "Gravitational Forces," will be out on Lost Highway on September 11. From the songs I heard that evening, I know this is an important addition to Texas music.

He announced that he was "a little intimated by the elegance of this place," and he admitted that he had to sneak in the Copenhagen in his wallet. Laughter broke the silence, and the show was off and running.

He knows how to deliver a song and tell a story. He knows how to build an unbearable crescendo in a set then go one more step. The music comes crashing in on some songs; on others it gracefully surrounds the words. I've never seen a Keen show quite like this one.

Keen alluded to the change in his shows from the quiet coffeehouse to the rowdy sing-along. "I used to talk a lot, but as the venues got louder, I got used to not talking." "Mariano" has never sounded better, and "Gringo Honeymoon" became an opportunity for the musicians to create music that penetrates deeply.

Keen, known for some quirky songs, is about to deliver a quintessential album, one that will last a long time. Whitbeck delivered a harmonica lead, and we heard a collection of vignettes followed by the chorus, "That's the way the wild wind blows." We heard "Amarillo Highway," a Terry Allen song rocked up by the Keen band.

Keen explained that he and Lyle Lovett tried to write a song "throwin' in all the things we love in one song," when they wrote "Old Front Porch."

Keen ended with a Johnny Cash song, "I Still Miss Someone," and the three part harmony took over. We all sang along, "The road goes on forever and the party never ends." Then he unplugged, and the band walked up to the edge of the stage. "Let's put those acoustic dollars to work," Keen announced. And, without any microphones, the band paid tribute to great Texas music by singing "I'm Going To Live Forever," by Billy Joe Shaver. As the song ended, each band member peeled off the line and quietly walked back into the dark, leaving Keen alone at the edge of the stage.

I explained to the folks next to me that Billy Joe used this song to pay tribute to his son, Eddy, who died December 31. The Bass Concert Hall in Ft. Worth called forth a special show from Robert Earl Keen. He has since toured with the Willie Nelson Picnic, playing Dallas, San Antonio and Houston back to back. He rocked the Verizon Ampitheatre in San Antonio. I was there.

Down the road.

Kathleen

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