a New Mexico native, Kris Hollis Key settled in Oklahoma in the late 70's, after spending most of his young adult life touring in bands in the south and southwest. Engineering and producing from Sunset West Studios in Tulsa, his first release since leaving Oklahoma, (Return of Boy Howdy) was a mix of strong rockabilly blues and classic Tulsa sound. His new release (West of Texas) is a haunting and lonely pure rocking country with emphisis on life in a small western town, pure prarie blues and stylistic songwriting without any of the typical Nashville influnce that is so prevelent today.Honest and powerful in its simplicity,this album delivers a wide mix, from the reggie bass within a country beat as in ALL TORE DOWN to the island hopping vacation song,INTO THE BIG FIRE to the New Orleans dirge beat of THE MESSENGER. From the opening blast of the first cut LONG DESERT HIGHWAY to the last soul searching track, WAITING TO FLY, an album of serious songs and inspiration that spells what next for this artist? NEWS FLASH: new cd release for 2009 on stickville records (American Spirit) features a mix of high desert western rock and pure prarie country blues with a couple of twists of rockabilly salsa