If you're feeling puny and you don't know what to do....

"If you're feeling puny and don't know what to do...treat yourself to some meat...eat some barbeque". Now, there's not many songwriters who'd use that particular lyric. That's from one of the most creative, unconventional singer/songwriters in music today - Robert Earl Keen.

Never heard of him...right? Well hopefully I can convince you to look him up the next time you're in the music store. Why? Because his voice is rough...really rough...and his lyrics are world-class. The first listen has you wondering....could he possibly be that rough of a singer? The second listen has you smiling....and by the third listen you'll find yourself singing along. I know...I know....that seems hard to believe...but as they say in Texas....I GUARANTEE it...with the third syllable on guarantee held much longer than the first two.

How about this gem from his most famous hit....the song Barbeque - which is the cornerstone of this breakthrough album - "There was once this girl I knew...she treated me so mean.....I offered her my barbeque.... she licked my platter clean."

Or how about this start on my second favorite track...Merry Christmas to the Family: "Mom got drunk and Dad got drunk at our Christmas party"....which then goes on to have a chorus that ends with an uplifting "and a cold Big Red!" Don't have any idea what a cold Big Red is? Just ask the legions of Robert Earl Keen fans who follow him on the Texas circuit and drown him out by singing his lyrics back to him over and over. You haven't seen groupies until you've been to a Keen concert.....

Get yourself over to one of those music stores that allows you to listen to a cd before you buy it.....play three tracks from this album....Barbeque...Merry Christmas to the Family...and the title track Gringo Honeymoon....and you'll walk out with the album.

Why? Because it does something you seldom find in today's sanitized, pop infused world....it creates a singalong genre with lyrics that are both humorous...and so perfectly true. "Send someone to the Stop and Go...we need some fake snow....some Salem Lights...and a box of tampons"...and that's after the family sings Silent Night on the front lawn as Cousin David fixes the outdoor Christmas lights. Sounds kinda like a cross between Chevy Chase and Cousin Eddie in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...and yes - I know that puts a mental image inside your noggin..

If you want a singular album that you can listen to with friends in your home....and which causes you to laugh with each other....really LAUGH... and then encourages you to sing along with its infectious beat and lyrics....and at that moment creates an indelible memory for all concerned... then this is THE one. And everyone will be asking you...."Where did you find this guy?"

When was the last time you couldn't help singing along?

Don't you think its been too long.....