Feature: Story time with Robert Earl Keen

LOS ANGELES, April 26 (UPI) -- Singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen knows several of his songs would make pretty good movies -- he can tell by the stack of screenplays people have sent him based on his work -- but he's waiting for somebody to "slam some cash on the table" before he'll sign off on adapting his stuff for the screen.

The Houston native -- a leading practitioner of what is generally referred to as alternative country music -- studied journalism at Texas A&M, so maybe it's only natural that so many of his songs would have such a strong sense of story.

But there is also something cinematic about songs such as "Billy Gray," "Mariano," "Tom Ames' Prayer" and particularly the anthem-like "The Road Goes on Forever" -- a story of two young lovers on a desperate crime spree. The characters are instantly recognizable and their actions are clear -- motivated by passion, restlessness and rejection of society's expectations.

At the same time, in songs such as "Jennifer Johnson & Me" and "No Kinda Dancer," Keen sings about the sweetness of young love and old memories.

During the past 20 years, Keen has cultivated a devoted following -- enough to support an ambitious touring schedule that has seen him play in the neighborhood of 200 dates a year. With the release of his new album, "What I Really Mean" coming up in May, Keen said he tried to take off the month of April -- his first real break from the road in about 18 months.

"Well, we tried to, but we did some dates on weekends," he said in an interview with United Press International. "And after that, it's pretty well full through the first week in July."

Keen said the cinematic quality he brings to his songs comes from the fact that when he's writing, his ideas occur visually for him -- and in some of the songs, the visuals stick with him whenever he performs them.

"If I write some narrative that this guy goes from point A to point Z and I'm traveling with him it's the same visual images every time I sing it," he said.

The obvious question, then, is: Are there plans to adapt any of the songs for movies? Keen said he has collected "a stack of screenplays" over the years from people who had the same thought.

"But the oddest thing is they just followed exactly what's happening in the songs," he said. "What am I supposed to do with this -- share the royalties with you? I can do this."

Although he hasn't yet seen the screenplay that he would say yes to, Keen said he remains open to the idea.

"I want somebody to slam some cash on the table," he said. "Then we'll start working on it."

By now, Keen has enough songs in his catalogue that he can play for 2 1/2 hours and still leave some fans disappointed because he didn't get to a particular song they wanted to hear. He hears about it when he meets fans after shows.

"They'll say, 'I drove 200 miles to see and you didn't play whatever,'" he said.

On such occasions, Keen borrows an old trick he said he picked up from guitar legend Les Paul.

"Les Paul used to say, 'Well, you should have told me,'" said Keen. "If you do it just fast enough and with just enough cheerfulness, it works."

Cheerful helps to describe Keen's fan base when, for example, they're singing every word of some of his songs while he's performing on the bandstand.

"They always sing at least half the songs," he said.

Keen said when he notices fans singing all the way through the third verse, he gets the idea that they spend a lot of time listening to his lyrics.

"Here's just my own speculation on the subject," he said. "I do write interesting lyrics and I try to write stuff that's multi-layered -- not a bunch of anagrams but just something below the surface -- and people like that. But the other thing is I'm not a good singer, so people aren't intimidated. Everybody can sing as well as I can."

His fans might argue the point, but Keen insists that's the way it sounds to him.

"Every day I turn on my Celine Dion CD and try to sing along, and when she hits that fourth octave I just give up in disgust," he said. "It just kills my day."

Hardcore Keen fans might wonder when the larger market will find his music -- and if there is a prospect that he will become better known outside the alternative country world. Keen said the thought crosses his mind from time to time as well.

"Then at the same time, it's all working out the way it's supposed to," he said. "I've had this career for 20 years and been enormously successful in a real spotty business, a real treacherous, a scary business -- and I've had some real amazing experiences. Whether it's in the cards for me to be standing up on the stage getting a Grammy is not as important as trying to continue to advance my artistry and make some people enjoy what I do. That's the best part of it."

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