''A Bigger Piece of Sky'' is an album by

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

-based

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

singer-songwriter

Robert Earl Keen Robert Earl Keen (born January 11, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and entertainer. Debuting with 1984's ''No Kinda Dancer'', the Houston native has recorded 20 full-length albums for both independent and major record labels. His songs ha ...

. It was released in the United States in 1993 by

Sugar Hill Records Sugar Hill Records is an American bluegrass and Americana record label. It was founded in Durham, North Carolina in 1978 by Barry Poss and David Freeman, the owner of County Records and Rebel Records. Poss acquired full control of Sugar Hil ...

and re-released in

SACD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips, Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows mul ...

format with the originally intended track sequencing in 2004 by

Koch Records MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...

. The title of the album comes from a line in the opening verse of "Paint the Town Beige": :''I gave up the fast lane for a blacktop country road'' :''Just burned out on all that talk about the mother lode,'' :''I traded for a songbird and a bigger piece of sky'' :''When I miss the good old days I can't imagine why.'' The album is frequently cited to be one of Keen's best if not the best and is considered to be a transitional point in his career as an artist."Robert Earl Keen–The Irony and Humor
by Don Henry Ford Junior, AmericanaRoots.com, December 8, 2005 Review:''A Bigger Piece of Sky''by Thom Jurek, ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

''Country Music Review: ''A Bigger Piece of Sky''
by Matt Bjorke, about.com The album brings together various elements of

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

such as

roots-rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...

honky tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ( tack piano) ...

, and

to form Keen's own cohesive blend of

Texas music The U.S. state of Texas has long been a center for musical innovation and is the birthplace of many notable musicians. Texans have pioneered developments in Tejano and Conjunto music, Rock 'n Roll, Western swing, jazz, punk rock, country, h ...

. Reviewers cite "Corpus Christi Bay", "Whenever Kindness Fails", "So I Can Take My Rest", and "Paint the Town Beige" as stand-out tracks. Keen's down-beat duet with Irish singer

Maura O'Connell Maura O'Connell (born 16 September 1958) is an Irish singer and actress. She is known for her contemporary interpretations of Irish folk songs, strongly influenced by American country music. Background O'Connell was born in Ennis, the main t ...

, "Night Right for Love" is also worthy of note as is Keen's cover of Terry Allen's "Amarillo Highway". Other guest performers include

Marty Stuart John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before beginning work as a ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

and

Garry Tallent Garry Wayne Tallent (born October 27, 1949), sometimes billed as Garry W. Tallent, is an American musician and record producer, best known for being bass player and founding member of the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band si ...

on electric and

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians: *

– lead vocals and acoustic guitar * George Marinelli – harmony vocal on "Paint the Town Beige", and electric guitar * Tommy Spurlock – acoustic guitar,

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

lap steel The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ac ...

, and gut string guitar *

– Electric bass and

Upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

* Dave Durocher – harmony vocal on "Corpus Christi Bay", drums and percussion *

Jonathan Yudkin Jonathan Yudkin is an American multi-instrumentalist who is a proficient player of banjo, violin, mandolin, and other stringed instruments. He is a Nashville-based session musician, record producer, arranger, and band leader. Biography Growin ...

– violin *

–

* Jay Spell –

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

* Michael Snow – additional vocals on "Blow You Away", bodhran, and

tenor banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

* Bryan Duckworth – violin on "Crazy Cowboy Dream" * Dave Heath – upright bass on "Crazy Cowboy Dream" and harmony vocals on "Jesse", "Amarillo Highway", and "Crazy Cowboy Dream" *

– duet vocal on "Night Right for Love", harmony vocal on "So I Can Take My Rest", and additional vocal on "Blow You Away" * Jennifer Prince – harmony vocal on "So I Can Take My Rest" Production: * Produced – Garry Velletri (except "Amarillo Highway" by Garry Velletri and Dave Durocher) * Recorded – Jeff Coppage, July 1992 at The Board Room,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

* Mixed – Jeff Coppage and Garry Velletri * Digital editing – Neal Merrick at Merrick Music Studios * Mastered – Denny Purcell at Georgetown Masters Artwork: * Cover – "Slow Poke" by Ray C. Strang * Back Cover – photo by Peter Figan * Design – Diane Painter

External links

Koch Entertainment album website

Notes and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigger Piece Of Sky, A 1993 albums Robert Earl Keen albums Sugar Hill Records albums