Texas native Braxton Keith turns a chance start into a breakout moment, blending classic country roots with modern swagger on his debut album Real Damn Deal.
On his long awaited and highly anticipated debut record Real Damn Deal, Midland born singer Braxton Keith proves he’s all that and then some as he brings his Texas dance hall bangers to the mainstream.
However, up until a few years ago the singer wasn’t even considering a career in music. It took encouragement from a college roommate at Angelo State University, who heard Keith singing from inside his dorm room, to push him to perform publicly and eventually record some of his own material.
“I remember him telling me ‘you need to do this so one day you can tell your kids about it’, which made me realize ‘what have it got to lose’,” explains Keith, who trekked up to Lubbock to record. “The reason I went [there] to record was because I was a big fan of Flatland Cavalry’s music at the time and found out they’d been recording at a place there called Amusement Park Studios, which is where I wound up cutting my first two singles until I found out how expensive it was to do things there [laughs].”
Not long after that studio time COVID hit, which led to him putting school on pause one month short of graduation, something he admits his parents who both have careers as dentists fought him on, although he admits “they’re ok with it now.” Then after his Neon Dreams EP blew up in late 2020 he leaned into the success, opting to instead pursue music full-time.
The decision has paid off so far, with Keith accumulating over 550,000 followers on TikTok, selling out concerts nationwide and even completing his first tour down under in Australia with Riley Green. And with Real Damn Deal set to release May 15, Keith shows no signs of slowing down.
On the 15-song compilation the “Cozy” crooner champions all eras of classic country from the 1950s through the 90s with a lighthearted nature that only he can deliver. This personality is evident before you even fire up a song by observing the album artwork, which features a miniature Keith with his signature, curled up mustache popping his head out the back pocket of a woman’s Wrangler jeans with a wide-eyed grin.
“I wanted it to be larger than life,” describes Keith. “It emphasizes my character and personality really well, especially with the good time we’re having on this record. Things don’t have to be so serious all the time.”
The record kicks off with its title track, a twangy two-stepper that’s part a story of his Midland upbringing and part a statement of confidence that he and his brand of country music are here to stay. From there Keith takes listeners on a rollercoaster of emotions as he sings of a breakup defined by “White Walls” in every room, how his lover is the only “Prescription” he needs, and telling stories of grandeur while BSing bellied up to the bar.
The latter is the storyline of “I Own This Bar”, a song that sees Keith invoking the names of Billy Graham, George Jones, John Wayne, Dale Earnhardt and George Strait to make himself seem larger than life. But the song has also taken on a life of its own too, with nearly 3.5 million streams on Spotify since its release as a single in late February. Despite the song’s success, Keith says he’s not ready to open his own bar — yet. “I’ve thought about it, but I definitely wouldn’t want to run it [laughs.”
“It’s the tongue in cheek nature of ‘my fish was this big’,” jokes Keith about the song. “I tend to sometimes tell stories the way I wish they went in my mind, which is what this song is. It’s just fibbing back and forth at the bar trying to be the most interesting guy in the room.”
Even though it’s Keith’s music taking center stage on the record, he made sure to give a nod to some of his biggest influences as well with covers of Jim Lauderdale’s “Mrs. Green”, Roger Miller’s “Am I All Alone (Or Is It Only Me)” and George Strait’s “The Chair”. Keith also pays homage to “King George” on the Liz Rose, Morgane and Chris Stapleton penned song “That’s How Hearts Get Broken”, which begins with an opening riff similar to Strait’s 1999 hit “Write This Down”.
Even though the covers are great, where Keith shines the most on Real Damn Deal is with his originals. After dropping the five song Blue EP in 2024 to rave reviews, the scale of this project has taught him to treasure the process, to be patient and most important of all, to have fun doing it.
“This amount of songs is more than we’ve ever done and took a long time to do,” remarks Keith. “We wanted to get everything sounding as good as we possibly could and I think we achieved that, so I’m excited for fans to finally hear it and let us know what they think.”
PHOTOGRAPHY: (All images) courtesy Benjamin Humphrey.
