ORLANDO – It was the late 1960s and rock steady music was the rage in Jamaica. Keith and Tex were one of that genre’s most promising acts, but just as they seemed ready to take off, they migrated to North America.
Known for songs like Stop That Train, Tonight and Don’t Look Back, the duo revived their career in the late 1990s and have since recorded a handful of albums. Gun Life is the title of their latest collection, released in March by Liquidator Records.
That company is owned by Toni Face of Spain. Roberto Sánchez, another Spaniard, produced the 14-song set. It is his third collaboration with Keith and Tex, who live in Orlando, Florida and Toronto, Canada, respectively.
While they enjoy performing their classic songs, Tex told South Florida Caribbean News that it is important to stay current.
“We would have had a bigger catalog of music had we not been separated for such a long, long time. We still have a lot to say, we’ve grown as artists and musicians and believe we can be relevant in these times,” he said. “We give thanks to the most high that our voices have remained relatively stable. We do not consider ourselves to be a nostalgia act, but an act that is constantly evolving.”
Both singers are from Kingston where they were part of a five-member harmony group in the early 1960s. When their frustrated colleagues quit to pursue nine-to-five jobs, Keith and Tex moved on to Derrick Harriott with whom they had significant success.
Harriott produced Tonight, Stop That Train and Don’t Look Back which made them stars.
With the dawn of reggae in the early 1970s, they migrated. Keith served in the US Army for 20 years, while Tex worked for the Canadian government.
They reunited in 1997 and have performed in the US, Europe and Asia.
