Veteran singer-songwriter and guitarist Robert Earl Keen’s guitar-driven storytelling has been classified as many things, usually in broad terms like alt-country or Americana.

“I don’t shun any label people give me, because people need labels to figure out things,” he says. “At the same time, I have a very unique thing going on that’s a mix of country, folk, bluegrass and some garage-rock. We do the best we can with that. The result is great shows on stage, because I’ve had the same guys together for 20 years and we play great.”

Keen’s constantly evolving, hard-to-pin-down sound has remained one thing all along: Texan. His genre-bending approach is more akin to ZZ Top’s blend of Tex-Mex influences and blues-rock than more stringent country and Western purists like Asleep at the Wheel or George Strait. Still, much of Keen’s music holds a place in country traditionalists’ hearts because he stays true to a time-tested approach to rural Western storytelling.

Many story-songs in Keen’s songbook are based on firsthand accounts. “I grew up and lived in Texas most of my life,” he says. “My writing is very visual. Some people call it cinematic. All my cinematic images come from the places where I grew up.”

Keen’s upbringing brought not just visual inspiration, but also a love for literature and oral storytelling. “One of the things that my family did give me was rich appreciation for stories,” he adds. “My brother is an incredible storyteller, and I have an uncle who was like having Will Rogers in your living room.”

By 2003 Keen had a reputation for acoustic-driven country and folk songs, exemplified by his 1998 album Walking Distance. Instead of continuing to follow this formula, he got stubborn and flipped the script. “I got sick and tired of being expected to do acoustic music all the time, so I made this highly electric guitar album called Farm Fresh Onions,” he says. “All of a sudden there [was] a big backlash that I’d abandoned what I was doing. You’d think I was Bob Dylan on stage at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 or something.”

Keen’s recent covers album, 2015’s Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions, is his latest departure. It features several guest appearances, including duets with the Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines and  Lyle Lovett, Keen’s friend since his days attending Texas A&M. Artists covered include the Carter Family, Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs. Keen had a typically laissez-faire attitude when mapping out the shift to a traditional bluegrass sound. “I’ve always loved that music, but I never thought I was much of a bluegrass singer,” he says. “Then all of a sudden one day I said, ‘I don’t care.’ I wanted to make that record, so I did.”

Recording a bluegrass album necessitated a live band that could recreate the genre’s circular melodies and multi-part harmonies. A keyboardist, fiddler and mandolin player were added to a core group that’s been touring with Keen for years. “I’ve been riding with the same guys for 20 years, then I added more,” he says. “What I lose is space on the bus. What I gain is the big, fat sound we get on stage and lots of opportunities to change the way we do our music.”

Whatever musical direction Keen takes next will likely be decided on a West Texas ranch, away from the hustle and bustle of tour. “The songs I do really well usually require some type of narrative,” he says. “To be able to do that, you need a certain amount of solitude. I sequester myself. I have a place I write at called the Scriptorium that’s on this hill that overlooks this big valley. I read books and strum on guitar there until songs come to me.”

Songwriting is not just creatively fulfilling for Keen. It also helps quench fans’ thirst for new music, which fuels the touring that has long been his bread and butter. “There’s always this insatiable desire to have more and more,” Keen says. “Putting out a record is part of it. It’s not exactly the part that I do the best, because I’m a terrible planner. I used to be scared to death of the studio. I’m still a terrible planner, but now I really love to get into the studio—though I don’t have much time, because I’m always on the road.”