Keen covers love, loss, happiness in music

The Houston native also has had a wide array of his songs covered by numerous artists from the country, folk and Texas country music scenes including George Strait, Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett, The Highwaymen, Nanci Griffith and the Dixie Chicks.

“I’ve been lucky because I consider myself the Milton Bradley of entertainment,” he says during a recent interview. “I’m meant for everyone from age 8 to 80. I’ve seen a lot of different types of fans embrace me and what I do.”

The 57-year-old Americana singer/songwriter is touring in support of his 2011 album, “Ready for Confetti.” The album marked Keen’s 11th studio album and was helmed by legendary producer Lloyd Maines, who also has produced for Dixie Chicks and The Flatlanders.

“This is the third record I’ve worked on with Lloyd and it continues to be great,” he explains. “He’s just a wonderful human being and brings so much more to music when he works on it.”

	Robert Earl Keen WHEN: 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 27 WHERE: Farmer’s Market Pavilion at the Santa Fe Railyard, 740 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe HOW MUCH: $31 at www.ticketssantafe.org or 505-988-1234

With “Ready for Confetti,” Keens says he wanted the music to be a colorful surprise for the fans.

“From the title on down on how we did the record, it’s different,” he says. “I was just trying to work with simple themes – love and loss, joy and happiness. I kept that in mind, and when I made the record with the band we stripped it down to make simple songs. I wanted it to feel like we were playing in a loose and fun way.”

While writing the album, Keen admits to getting input from others during the process, which is a rare occurrence.

“Usually, my songs are a big secret,” he says. “I asked for feedback and I went back and carved out a few things that people like and thought I should try to make each song have a musical world to live in.”

Nearly two years after its release, Keen believes that the album stands on its own and he is still proud of the end result.

“I really feel like this is a great record and I haven’t come up with any ideas past this for music,” he says. “I’ve had an incredible music career and if this was the end, I would be happy. As far as the future holds, most likely I will continue to play until I get into the nursing home. Until then, I’m going to have fun and just perform.”