KEITH: A MUSICIAN AT THE MARGINS
It was fitting that the first time I saw Keith he was on stage. This stage happened to be at Gumbo’s North, a Cajun bar and restaurant located in Georgetown, TX, a town of 50,000 about a half hour’s drive north of Austin. Gumbo’s used to be downtown – which caused me some confusion at first – but has since relocated to this booming exurb. Keith was working as the musical accompaniment for happy hour there on a particularly brutal wintery night, and I remember hoping that the icy conditions outside were the reason for the sparse crowd. But the crowd – or lack thereof – didn’t seem to be affecting Keith as he sat confidently on a dark wooden stool playing a song from his upcoming solo album on a humble wooden acoustic guitar.
“Hey man, good to meet ya!” Keith exclaimed when I introduced myself after his set. He appeared to me content yet weary, like someone who had just finished a satisfying but busy day of labor. He shook my hand securely and I could feel calluses on his fingertips, something I would learn is characteristic of career guitarists. This was the first of many conversations we would have over the following months. And as I would come to find out, meeting outside of Austin, amongst the suburban sprawl, is emblematic of Keith’s existence. Like Gumbo’s, Keith’s social world of county rock and Americana music has been pushed to the urban margins of Austin. Redevelopment, gentrification, a focus on younger, hipper musical styles: this process has many names, but for Keith, it ultimately means more driving, less sleep, and a deep disconnection between his current musical career and the downtown streets on which it began.