| Music
scenes come and go. Entertainers swirl around within
them. Some drift away. Some hang on the edge. But some
are outside creating the gravitational forces which
spur on those musical moments fans remember better than
their first kiss.
Gravitational
Forces, Robert Earl Keen's first release on the
Lost Highway label (other label-mates include stars
Lucinda Williams and Ryan Adams), is drawn from and
about the uncontrollable elements, skill and talent
that go into creating the musical energy of country
music.
Produced
by Gurf Morlix and mastered by Hank Williams, Keen's
album is the essence of what the singer/songwriter
gig is all about. No special effects. Improvisation.
Letting that guitar solo ride. Keeping it cool. Organic.
Real.
Spin
Gravitational Forces and you're suddenly in
the hands of a first-rate artist and his band. No
frills, Keen thrives in a deep, country groove. Rich
Brotherton's guitar solos are long and luscious. Bill
Whitbeck plays bass. Tom VanSchalk on drums. Marty
Muse on steel. The band is tight. They don't disappoint
the lovers of recorded music, and their spontaneity
is that of well-disciplined, hard-working lovers of
their craft.
With
eight previous recordings prior to Gravitational
Forces, Keen has commented on just about everything
with a rough-and-tough style that's at the essence
of country music. On his record, he's confident his
fans won't be disappointed.
Throughout
the album, Keen grabs hold of the moments in life
that leave us speechless. Lovers change their minds
and then their paths, the Earth spins and suddenly
you're much older than you thought. Loyalty is expensive
and sometimes, says Keen, "the sacrifice and
compromise can't stand the strain."
He's
a man with miles under his belt. Keen doesn't philosophize
about life from an air-conditioned interior on the
other side of the glass. He tells things like he sees
them, and it's not hard to see that he's spent a lot
of time on the outside of almost everything.
But,
in Keen style, he's made the outside cool. Dragging
around a guitar and growling about the grit of a real
life, embracing the feel of true country…it's
all part of the scene swirling around him, and inspiring
his newest release.
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