Gravitational Forces

VINYL FORMAT. Part of a long line of Texas singer-songwriters whose ranks include Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and buddy Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen has made his name over the years as a master storyteller. On Gravitational Forces, Keen maintains this reputation with an array of eclectic characters and their exploits. Among the more notable protagonists are the down-and-out lover fleeing from a busted-up relationship to the Big Easy in "Hello New Orleans" and the homeless drifter floating through the poignant "Not A Drop Of Rain." Elsewhere, Langston Hughes, Woody Guthrie, and Cesar Chavez rub elbows in the heavenly way station of "Goin' Nowhere Blues," while a lonesome traveler wrestles with the prickly facets of heartbreak throughout "Fallin' Out." When he's not plying his own colorful narratives, the former journalism major does a fine job of interpreting fellow troubadours. Among those artists getting their due are Johnny Cash (a gorgeous "I Still Miss Someone"), Terry Allen (the hilarious honky-tonk flavored "High Plains Jamboree"), and the dean of Texas singer-songwriters, Townes Van Zandt (the ethereal "Snowing On Raton"). Gravitational Forces reaffirms Robert Earl Keen's deserved place amongst the pantheon of legendary Texas raconteurs past and present.