Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions

Robert Earl Keen’s ‘Happy Prisoner’ is an album unlike any other in his storied catalog. Inspired by the bluegrass and acoustic music he grew up around, Keen – who in addition to his own recordings has written for George Strait, Joe Ely, They Dixie Chicks and others - has put his unique stamp on fifteen standards and other beloved tunes (twenty on the deluxe edition) by Flatt & Scruggs, The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, even Richard Thompson. ‘Happy Prisoner’ was produced by Keen’s frequent collaborator Lloyd Maines and features his longtime ace band consisting of guitarist Rich Brotherton, bassist Bill Whitbeck, drummer Tom Van Schaik and steel guitarist Marty Music. Special guests include Lyle Lovett and Natalie Maines on vocals, Nickel Creek's Sara Watkins on fiddle, and Danny Barnes on banjo. Trading the high lonesome vocal style associated with bluegrass for the gravelly bonhomie of the raconteur, Keen opens new doorways into these songs. The result is untraditionally traditional, Kentucky-by-way-of-Texas music. Over a career that spans more than three decades, Robert Earl Keen has carved out a place in the Lone Star pantheon of incisive, novelistic writers, alongside Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle and Guy Clark. Rolling Stone has called him a “master storyteller,” and The New York Times’ Jon Pareles wrote, "Texas seems to breed down-home philosophers, and Mr. Keen is one of the best.”