“Barbeque, sliced beef, and bread

Ribs and sausage and a cold Big Red…”

If you know the barbecue anthem from Robert Earl Keen’s fifth album, Gringo Honeymoon , you can probably finish the rest of the song in your head. For the uninitiated, it might sound like the perfect order at your favorite smoked-meat counter. You’ve got the Texas trinity, a Texas-born sugary drink, and the ubiquitous slice of fluffy white bread.

The song “ Barbeque ” has been a longtime road trip companion of mine for obvious reasons. It’s also with me before I’m being interviewed, when I need to break the ice by belting out a few lines before they’ve had a chance to start recording. The first time I consciously sat with the meal in front of me that mirrored the first few lines, I was at Lockhart Smokehouse in

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