Robert Earl Keen

Feb. 13 • Madison Theater

Feb 8, 2010 at 2:06 pm

A little Country, a little Pop and a lot of Texas-spun, story-laced Americana, singer/songwriter Robert Earl Keen’s latest release, The Rose Hotel, has been hailed as one of the best of his storied career.

While laden with an eclectic, pulsating groove and dynamic, rootsy instrumentation, it’s Keen’s, er, keen trademark sense of storytelling that's most magnetic on Hotel and his lauded streak of wit weaves in and out of most of the tracks on the album. Like Jimmy Buffett with better songs or Kenny Chesney with soul, Keen has an appeal that isn’t constrained to any one “target market,” as evidenced by his appearance in Gun and Garden Magazine, coverage from NPR and The New Yorker, videos aired on CMT and his forthcoming summer tour dates with the Dave Matthews Band. Now that’s well rounded.

Keen’s show Saturday at the Madison Theater in Covington features support from Bobby Bare Jr.

(Buy tickets, check out performance times and get venue details here.)