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Asleep at the Wheel brings foot-tapping music to the Swing Station |
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Written by Kurt Brighton for NEXTnc
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Friday, 10 August 2007 |
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If you go to Asleep at the Wheel’s MySpace page, the first thing you notice is the lively twang of the song “Am I Right or Amarillo” from the band’s new record Reinventing the Wheel.
But what really jumps out at you is the band’s absurd schedule — it quickly becomes apparent just how devoted this group is. They have at least 50 dates already booked through September of next year, in addition to their upcoming show at the Swing Station, and there are certain to be more. And although front man Ray Benson is deadly serious about performing, he wouldn’t be able to do what he does without a generous dose of humor also. To wit:
“I’ve been doing this for 37 years,” he said. “I guess if I didn’t like touring, I would have found some other job by now.”
Boasting a rotating cast of more than 80 band members and spanning nearly four decades, Asleep at the Wheel has become an Americana icon of sorts. And they’ve managed to devote themselves to playing traditional music while still keeping it fresh and alive. According to Benson, that’s the result of the perpetual influx of new blood.
 “I think it’s 90 (band members), but who’s counting?” he asks. “The interesting thing is my drummer David (Sanger) has been with me 20 years, my bassist David (Miller) for 15 years, the fiddle player (Jason Roberts) has been with me since he graduated high school 15 years ago. But everybody who joins the band adds something to it. That’s what’s so cool.”
The recent addition of vocalist Elizabeth McQueen has breathed new life into the band as well. And the members’ devotion to western swing runs deep — the merry troupe has gone so far as to pen a musical stage play, “A Ride With Bob,” celebrating the life of the granddaddy of western swing Bob Wills, a play that has been warmly received.
“It’s amazing how far the thing has come,” Benson said. “It was just our way of honoring this man, but the show has taken on a life of its own. People really seem to have connected with it.”
And with sold-out shows all across the country and the world, not to mention a play devoted to a semi-obscure musician, how to explain the continuing popularity of western swing? According to Benson, it’s just part of the fabric of our country, the warp and woof that binds us all together.
“You’ve got this mix of country music, blues music, and swing music, and you take all of them and you jumble them together and it becomes this thing we’ve come to call Americana, things that are purely American,” he said.
“I think that’s why it’s so popular today — people really identify with that. Music in America is such an identifier. Plus, people call it ‘foot-tapping’ music, happy music. It does fulfill a role I think.”
And with “Reinventing the Wheel,” Benson’s band has once again proven that it is possible to play traditionally styled music without allowing to become stale.
“We’re not a museum piece, you know,” he said. “We’re for real.”
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GO TO THE SHOW
Asleep at the Wheel
with the Happy Honkies
7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 12
Swing Station,
3311 W CR546, Laporte
$30
Go if you like: Hank Williams Sr., Merle Haggard or Bob Wills
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