After four decades, Asleep at the Wheel is still swinging.
The famed country band known as the kings of Western Swing, plays here Sunday, July 17, for two shows at the Savannah Center. Times are 5 and 8 p.m.
Asleep at the Wheel features fiddling, dancing, hot swing and cool sounds all night long – in other words, boogie-woogie country style. Check out this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vifUaZQL8pc
Ray Benson formed the group back in the early 1970s. Benson sings and plays the guitar for these Texas Wheelers – based in Austin — who have earned a host of Grammy Awards and played with just about every big name in Country Music.
The Wheels have toured with Bob Dylan and George Strait. Also, the band has teamed with such performers as Merle Haggard, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, the Dixie Chicks, Emmylou Harris, Tim McGraw, and Dwight Yoakam.
But Asleep at the Wheel is best known for carrying on the tradition of Western Swing started by the late Bob Wills. The band’s latest album is called, “Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.”
It’s the sound that made the Wheelers famous, and this is the band’s third CD honoring Wills.
“(Wills’ music) is Americana in the truest sense of the word,”Benson told thebluegrasssituation.com.
“It’s music that is purely American. And I think the fact that Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys were so funky and original, but yet so proficient, it’s ultimately the combination that makes it last and relevant today.”
When asked by the Web site about the Asleep at the Wheel’s legacy, Benson replied:
“That we added something to an American art form. That maybe we extended it into the future by inspiring other artists or bands to reach back and check out guys like Bob Wills, who paved the way for all of us. Also that we were an entertaining band with truly top shelf musicianship, with great soul.”
