|
|
 |
Asleep at the Wheel
For 40 years, Ray Benson & Asleep
at the Wheel have been the chief practitioners,
conspirators and caretakers of Western swing, carrying
Wills’ traditions well into the 21st century,
reaching both their contemporaries and the next
generation of artists inspired by the great bandleader.
This album marks the band’s third full-length
Bob Wills tribute album following 1999’s Ride
with Bob and 1993’s A Tribute to the Music
of Bob Wills, with four Grammy awards and over 500,000
copies sold collectively.
Based in Austin, Asleep at the Wheel formed in Paw
Paw, West Virginia in 1970. Since their inception,
the band has won nine Grammy awards, released more
than 20 studio albums and charted more than 20 singles
on the Billboard country charts.
In 1972, the band signed their first record deal
after Van Morrison mentioned they “play great
country music” in an interview in Rolling
Stone. Their debut record, Comin’ Right At
Ya, was released in 1973 on United Artists.
The release of Texas Gold in 1975 brought the band
national recognition, with the single “The
Letter That Johnny Walker Read” becoming a
top-ten country hit. The band has been awarded “Touring
Band of the Year” (CMAs, 1976) and the “Lifetime
Achievement in Performance” (Americana Music
Awards 2009).
In 2010, they earned a Grammy nomination in the
newly minted Best Americana Album category for their
critically acclaimed Willie & The Wheel, on
Bismeaux Records.
Owned by Ray Benson, Bismeaux Records has won “Best
Local Record Label” three years consecutively
in the Austin Music Awards. Between 2005 and 2012,
Ray Benson wrote, produced and starred in the Bob
Wills musical A Ride With Bob. The production sold
70,000 tickets in 18 cities nationwide including
the Kennedy Center in 2006. In 2007,
Benson performed with Carrie Underwood & Johnny
Gimble on the Grammy Awards Telecast in a special
Grammy Salute to Bob Wills.
Kenneth
Threadgill Concert
Friday, October 7
7:30 p.m.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Municipal Auditorium
2821 Washington Street
Downtown Greenville, Texas
one block west of Wesley Street
|
