AA-S Best Bet:The nine-time Grammy-winning masters of western swing Asleep At The Wheel shake things up at the Broken Spoke this evening. Originally from Philadelphia, towering 6-foot-7-inch frontman Ray Benson has led the Wheel for 36 years with some 80 members coming and going, creating a true Texas institution. The band combines sounds from big band to country to folk to produce tunes fit for a spin around the dance floor.
Their latest albums, "Reinventing The Wheel" and "Santa Loves To Boogie," flaunt the multifaceted talent of this seven-piece ensemble.
-- Lauren Clonts
XL Recommended:Asleep at the Wheel. The newest release from the world's most indestructible Western swing band is a double CD.
'Santa Loves to Boogie' is pretty much what it says, Christmas music, Western swing-style. 'Hot Texas Christmas Day' features Dale Watson, while Willie Nelson shows up for 'Pretty Paper.' 'Reinventing the Wheel' features newest member Elizabeth McQueen, collaborations with Blind Boys of Alabama ('The Devil Ain't Lazy').
Something tells me this cover will be mostly Christmas music you can two-step to.
--Joe Gross
From : It was in the aftermath of 1999's critically acclaimed -- and quadruple Grammy winning -- Ride With Bob that Asleep at the Wheel's towering big boss man, Ray Benson, noticed an equally giant hole in the band's storied catalog. Over the course of the last three decades, Benson and the Wheel have boldly defied the fickle lures of the mainstream -- and thrived -- by sticking to their noble cause of keeping that distinctly American of art forms, Western Swing, alive and kicking.
Along the way, they've entertained thousands and won praise and admiration from everyone from Willie Nelson to Bob Dylan, George Strait to Van Morrison. But something was missing.
"After the Ride With Bob album was done and it was doing real well, I was sitting in my office reading the sales reports on Asleep at the Wheel that they had sent me," says Benson.
"And I looked at all the 'Best Of' Asleep at the Wheel albums, of which there are many, and none of them contained all of the songs that are our top requested songs night after night on the road. Every night they ask for certain songs, and there's not a package with that in it. So that's what we set out to do.
"
The result is The Very Best of Asleep at the Wheel, the very first album to round up every single one of the legendary Western swing band's most requested songs after thirty-one years of rolling on the road. "It's not ballad heavy," understates the 6'7" bandleader and guitarslinger with a deep laugh. "We're a dance band.
That's what we're about. And that's plenty."
But The Very Best of Asleep at the Wheel is more than just a collection of fourteen great dance tunes (though it's certainly an excellent place to start), just as Asleep at the Wheel is way more than just a dance band.
They're an institution: an ever-shifting lineup (80 members to date) of like-minded musicians united under Benson's crusade to carry the torch of big band Western Swing music into the 21st Century. It is a mission that has won the band and Ray nine Grammys to date -- including one this year for best Vocal Performance By A Duo or Group for "Cherokee Maiden" from their acclaimed Ride With Bob album. Comprised of freshly minted takes on the Wheel's best loved songs, The Very Best of Asleep at the Wheel is both a celebration of the miles and miles they've covered and a living, breathing, swinging snapshot of where the Wheel is today, merging seamlessly onto the highway of their fourth decade.
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