Robert Earl Keen brings his holiday show back to Buddy Holly Hall on Dec. 15

Four years after his 'Final Tour' stopped in Lubbock, the Texas songwriter returns to the DeVitt Jones Theater with 'I Will Survive… Christmas' and Drayton Farley.

In June 2022, Robert Earl Keen played the DeVitt Jones Theater at The Buddy Holly Hall as part of what he called his Final Tour. That September, he stepped off the road. For Lubbock fans, that night felt like a goodbye. It turns out it wasn't.

Keen comes back to the same room on Tuesday, Dec. 15, with REK's I Will Survive… Christmas, a holiday show with Drayton Farley opening. Lubbock stations 92.5 XTU and Country 103.7 reported the date last week. They called it a "disco-fueled holiday party," and the presale code was REKDISCO, so you can take a hint from that. Tickets are on sale now through Buddy Holly Hall.

Lubbock is one of 10 dates. The tour opens Dec. 8 at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa. Three nights after Lubbock, he's at House of Blues Dallas on Dec. 18. The DeVitt Jones Theater seats 2,297, so this isn't a small room, but on a Keen holiday bill it may not last long.

The 2022 farewell is what makes this one matter. When Keen announced the Final Tour, he said that as of Sept. 4, 2022, he would no longer tour or perform publicly. He planned to keep writing, keep hosting his podcast and help younger artists, KCBD reported when the Lubbock date was booked. He has since come back for the holidays, which is a different thing from a full return to touring. A short December run is how he's chosen to come back.

The holidays have long been his territory. His Christmas shows grew out of "Merry Christmas From the Family," the irreverent seasonal song from his 1994 album *Gringo Honeymoon*, and over the years they've run under names like the Fam-O-Lee holiday shows, per Keen's own site. This year's name and presale code suggest he's leaning into disco for the 2026 version. How far he takes that, you'll have to see in person.

Opener Drayton Farley is on the tour announcement on Keen's site for the run. Get there in time to catch him.

A second date there, in December, in a Lubbock theater named for the city's most famous musician, closes a loop that looked closed for good.

For Lubbock fans, that night felt like a goodbye. It turns out it wasn't.

It's a Tuesday in the middle of December, and the stockings are going up. Somewhere in that set will be a song about a family Christmas that goes sideways. In Lubbock, a lot of people will sing along.

Sources: Robert Earl Keen Brings Disco-Fueled Holiday Party to Lubbock's Buddy Holly Hall — 92.5 XTU (925xtu.com); Robert Earl Keen Brings Disco-Fueled Holiday Party to Lubbock's Buddy Holly Hall — Country 103.7 (country1037fm.com); Texas music icon Robert Earl Keen announces show at Buddy Holly Hall (yahoo.com); Helen DeVitt Jones Theater — Buddy Holly Hall (buddyhollyhall.com); Robert Earl Keen (official site) (robertearlkeen.com); A 'Fam-O-Lee' Extravaganza — robertearlkeen.com (robertearlkeen.com); Robert Earl Keen schedules Lubbock concert in his final tour — KCBD (kcbd.com); Robert Earl Keen Tickets Dec 18, 2026 Dallas, TX — Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.com); Robert Earl Keen announces Lights, Camera, Christmas tour (gratefulweb.com)