Feelin' Good Again

Legendary Texas troubadour Robert Earl Keen storms into Houston on farewell tour

Robert Earl Keen announced the end of the road earlier this year.

Photo by Melanie Maganias Nashan

The road, it seems, does not go on forever, and the party — at least the live one — is wrapping up for legendary Texas songwriter Robert Earl Keen. In January 2022, the he announced his decision in January 2022 to retire at the top of his game, and the acclaimed musician is making the most of his final touring year with a romping, rowdy set of shows across his home state of Texas.

“I’ve been blessed with a lifetime of brilliant, talented, colorful, electrical, magical folks throughout my life,” Keen shared in a video on his social media channels. “This chorus of joy, this parade of passion, this bull rush of creativity, this colony of kindness and generosity are foremost in my thoughts today. It’s with a mysterious concoction of joy and sadness that I want to tell you that as of September 4, 2022, I will no longer tour or perform publicly.”

The final leg of his final tour will kick off in Corpus Christi on August 4 and run through September 4, making stops at several Texas institutions, including visits here at Galveston’s Grand 1894 Opera House and The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. He’ll also play ACL Live at the Moody Theater in Austin and Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth.

With a catalog of 21 albums, his band of stellar musicians, and many thousands of shows under his belt, Keen has earned living-legend status in the Americana music world. A Houston native, he grew up on classic rock and Willie Nelson records, teaching himself the guitar by the time he entered Texas A&M University. Keen co-wrote “The Front Porch Song” with fellow Texas legend and friend Lyle Lovett, which both artists recorded on their debut albums.

Keen followed in the footsteps of some of the Lone Star State’s most revered singer-songwriters, producing and financing his first album No Kinda Dancer before moving to Nashville. By the time he moved back to Texas, he had a publishing deal, a new label, and a national booking agent. He released The Live Album and West Textures, the seminal album which debuted what remains his all-time fan favorite, "The Road Goes on Forever."

Since then, two more albums, A Bigger Piece of Sky and Gringo Honeymoon, produced instant classics like "Corpus Christi Bay," "Gringo Honeymoon," "Dreadful Selfish Crime," and "Merry Christmas from the Family.” Keen’s acclaim as a writer has earned him membership in the Texas Heritage Songwriter Hall of Fame, The Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, and the Texas Institute of Letters.

While Keen will continue to write music, host his popular podcast, support young artists, and follow his artistic muse wherever it takes him, his already-sold-out final public concert will be September 4 at John T. Floores Country Store in Helotes, Texas, followed by a fan appreciation party at the same venue on September 5.

Below is the complete list of dates and venues for his World Tour of Texas. Local presale tickets will go on sale on Thursday, May 26, from 10 am-10 pm. All tickets will be on sale Friday, May 27, at 10 am.

August 4 — Concrete Street Amphitheater, Corpus Christi
August 5 — Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, San Antonio
August 6 — KOKE Fest, Hutto
August 12 — Starlight Ranch, Amarillo
August 17-18 — Gruene Hall, New Braunfels
August 19 — The Grand 1894 Opera House, Galveston
August 20 — Texas Uprising, The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Houston
August 21 — Julie Rogers Theater, Beaumont
August 24 — The Factory Deep Ellum, Dallas
August 25 — Billy Bob’s Texas, Fort Worth
August 26 — Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center, Midland
August 28-29 — ACL Live at the Moody Theater, Austin
September 1 — Floore’s Country Store, Helotes (sold out)
September 2 — TBA, College Station
September 3-4 — Floore’s Country Store, Helotes (sold out)

HOWDY, DOCTORS

Grey's Anatomy spins off new medical drama led by Houston-born showrunner

Photo via Meg Marinis/Instagram

Showrunner Meg Marinis poses with actor Kevin McKidd, who recently exited Grey's Anatomy after more than a decade playing Dr. Owen Hunt.

ABC is bringing the Grey's Anatomy universe to Texas with a new one-hour rural medical drama co-created by longtime showrunner Meg Marinis. Marinis was born in Houston and is an alum of both the Kinkaid School and the University of Texas at Austin.

According to an exclusive report from Deadline, which production company Shondaland shared on social media, the untitled series has received a straight-to-series order from ABC and will follow a team at a rural West Texas medical center described as “the last chance for care before miles of nowhere.”

The series marks the first Grey’s Anatomy franchise show set outside the West Coast, and it's the first that's not centered around an existing main character from the original series.

The new drama will be co-created by Shonda Rhimes and Marinis, who has spent nearly two decades working on Grey’s Anatomy. She joined the series during its third season as a production assistant before rising through the ranks to become a researcher, writer, executive producer, and now showrunner.

"This opportunity will bring new characters and stories to life that will embody the same heart, emotion, and connection audiences have loved from Grey’s for more than two decades, all set in my home state of Texas,” Marinis said in a statement announcing the series. "I am so grateful to Shonda Rhimes for creating this dynamic world and feel so fortunate that I get to be a part of it.”

Marinis’ path to running one of television’s biggest franchises started in Austin. In an interview with Shondaland last year, she recounted moving to Los Angeles during her final semester at UT through the university’s UTLA entertainment program, which allows students to complete coursework while interning in the industry. While finishing school, she interned at Universal before landing a production assistant role on Grey’s Anatomy in 2006.

Marinis has also woven Texas experiences into the flagship series itself in recent years. According to Deadline, she personally knew families affected by the Camp Mystic tragedy and rewrote part of a recent Grey’s Anatomy episode after becoming emotional while working on the script.

The West Texas setting is particularly timely, as rural healthcare access remains a growing issue across the state. According to the Texas Hospital Association, more than 20 rural Texas hospitals have closed since 2010, while roughly a quarter of the state’s remaining rural hospitals are considered at risk of closure.

By centering the new series on what ABC describes as “the last chance for care before miles of nowhere,” the franchise could bring national attention to healthcare access challenges facing communities across West Texas and other rural parts of the state.

The new series joins a long lineage of Texas-set television dramas, though not all were actually filmed in the state. Grey’s Anatomy itself is famously set in Seattle while primarily filmed in the Los Angeles area. Friday Night Lights became closely associated with Austin through extensive local filming, while series like Dallas often recreated Texas from California sound stages, with exteriors of Southfork Ranch serving as the Ewings' fictitious home. Walker, Texas Ranger, meanwhile, became one of the best-known examples of a network drama heavily filmed across Texas itself.

Even after more than 20 years on the air, Grey’s Anatomy remains one of television’s most durable franchises. According to ABC, the drama is now the longest-running primetime medical drama in television history and continues to rank among the network’s strongest scripted performers.

Ellen Pompeo, who stars as Dr. Meredith Grey in the original series, is attached as an executive producer, and the new drama is expected to premiere in 2027.

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