If you’re planning a road trip (or a celebration of any kind, for that matter), you’ll want Asleep at the Wheel as your soundtrack.
The legendary western swing band has been roaring through American towns for nearly five decades. On December 1, the Wheel will be rolling into Irvine Barclay Theatre to celebrate the holidays with their most popular songs and such Asleep at the Wheel originals as “Christmas in Jail” and “Merry Texas Christmas Y’all.”
Over the years, Asleep at the Wheel’s members have come and gone. The alumni roster is well over 80-plus musicians who have gone on to perform with artists such as Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Lyle Lovett and Ryan Adams. But, there’s one person who has been there from the very beginning–the band’s leader, Ray Benson.
An imposing figure, with a 6-foot-7-inch frame, the Stetson-wearing “gentle giant” co-founded the Wheel in 1970 in Paw Paw, West Virginia. The Wheel’s breakthrough came in 1973 when Van Morrison mentioned the band in a Rolling Stoneinterview: “There’s some relatively unknown group around that I really dig. Asleep at the Wheel plays great country music.” That same year, at the invitation of his friend, Willie Nelson, Benson moved the Wheel to Austin, Texas…and y’all can guess the rest.
Through the years, the Wheel has packed rooms across the nation, played for U.S. presidents, picked up 10 Grammy Awards and released more than 25 studio and live albums.
With nearly 50 years of life on the road (their old Silver Eagle tour bus retired with more than three million miles), the best is yet to come…there are still more roads left to explore.
As their bumper sticker says: “Western Swing Ain’t Dead, it’s Asleep at the Wheel.”
Y’all can’t miss this ride!