If this music thing doesn’t work out for Robert Earl Keen, he could always make it in retail.
Kidding aside, music has been very good to Keen and vice versa. But Keen has always loved selling merchandise with his brand on it and even has his own beer and Bloody Mary mix.
When he started out opening for Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, Keen recalls he would play his set and then set up his merch table in the lobby, much to the bemusement of Clark and Van Zandt.
If you go
* What: Robert Earl Keen in concert * When: 8 p.m. today, May 21 * Where: Track 29, 1400 Market St. * Admission: $20 * Phone: 423-521-2929 * Website: www.track29.co
“I carried a big box of cassettes and stuff,” he says.