New Music: Robert Earl Keen ‘Happy Prisoner’

Well, it's safe to say Robert Earl Keen has officially moved over to the dark side -- Bluegrass, that is.

His album 'Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions' dropped this week, and it is everything you would hope it to be. It is a fairly large stretch from what we normally expect from Keen, while maintaining that gritty storytelling. Needless to say, Bluegrass is the perfect match for Keen.

Keen went into studio with over 100 cover songs to cut and narrowed it down to 20 tracks featuring top notch musicians, including Natalie Maines and Lyle Lovett:

"I think bluegrass is one of the most communal kinds of music there is. I have some friends — Lyle sings a duet with me, as does Natalie Maines... Man, I'm telling you, I have a hard time patting myself on the back on stuff, but this record, it's a great record. It's a flat-out great record. It sounds good from beginning to end. Really good mix of songs — there's the serious, out-there-living-in-a-cabin-home-on-a-hill kind of thing, and then the classic murder ballads and the whole deal, man. It's great." - The Eagle

We love that Keen is mixing it up with this album, and we think you will too. Pick up the record here!

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Natalie Rhea is a freelance writer, photographer and videographer who regularly contributes to RadioTexasLive.com. She also is the owner of Natalie Rhea Productions, which specializes in documentaries, music photography and music video production. Click here to visit Natalie’s website for exclusive content.