ommy Keene has been making his brand of melodic rock for almost 30 years now. His early independent releases garnered high praise from critics, and when he jumped to a major label, big things were expected. Through a series of industry blunders and bad luck, Keene’s rock star ship never came in. Despite the numerous setbacks, the excellent quality of his songs has never wavered.

He’s just released his first-ever career spanning collection called Tommy Keene You Hear Me: A Retrospective 1983-2009. Icon Fetch talks to the influential songwriter about his many pitfalls, as well as how he assembled his new collection, and teamed up with Bob Pollard of Guided By Voices.