Fans certainly won’t complain if Robert Earl Keen plans to release new music and resume touring after his Farewell Tour. The upside to retiring, after all, is the freedom to do just what one pleases. Early in 2023, Keen released Western Chill as a package deal–an LP of new music packaged as a box set that included a graphic novel, a songbook, and a DVD of the band performing the full album.
This week, coinciding with summer tour dates, Keen is releasing “Let’s Valet,” the first single from that album, which will be released digitally in June in response to fans’ request for “on-the-go” listening. With the feel of a jazz standard and the flavor of Western swing, the single is an invitation to a night on the town “in silk and sequins.” Keen and his band plunge listeners right into a smoky, dimly lit nightclub. Band members Brian Beken (guitar), Kym Warner (mandolin) and Bill Whitbeck (bass) and Tom van Shaik (drums) provide a light touch as they back Keen’s vocals.
With that unmistakable voice and the driving beat of the band, “Let’s Valet” showcases a more laidback Robert Earl Keen, as suggested by the album title’s emphasis on chill. Advance press for the album release promises “enough surprises to keep even the most seasoned fan guessing what’s coming next.”
Always eager to respond to his loyal fan base, on tour this summer Keen will perform his full 1998 album Picnic and his 2003 Farm Fresh Onions on alternating nights, after debuting tracks from Western Chill with Willie Nelson at New Braunfels, Texas’s White Water Amphitheater this weekend.