Asleep at the Wheel

Ashburn

BRAND NEW Asleep at the Wheel Happy Trails Tour Poster 11"x17" Designed by Shelby Criswell

Happy Trails Tour Poster

BRAND-NEW sticker featuring Ray Benson 4" circle

Asleep at the Wheel Sticker

BRAND NEW! Happy Trails Asleep at the Wheel t-shirt

Happy Trails T-Shirt

Since the early 1970s, Asleep at the Wheel has been the most important force in keeping the sound of Western swing alive. They've earned critical praise throughout their lengthy career, not simply preserving classic sounds but updating the music, keeping it a living, breathing art form. The group has gone through myriad personnel changes (over 80 members have passed through their ranks), but frontman <a href="spotify:artist:2G6E8Q9UTzDIhoawhJm33M">Ray Benson</a> has held it together for since 1970, keeping Asleep at the Wheel a going concern devoted to classic-style Western swing. 1973's debut LP Comin' Right at Ya caught their sound fully formed, 1993's A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys was a joyous homage to their hero, 2007's Reinventing the Wheel found <a href="spotify:artist:2G6E8Q9UTzDIhoawhJm33M">Benson</a> and the gang in high spirits, and 2021's Half a Hundred Years was a star-studded celebration of their golden anniversary.

Singer/guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2G6E8Q9UTzDIhoawhJm33M">Benson</a> was born <a href="spotify:artist:2G6E8Q9UTzDIhoawhJm33M">Ray Benson Seifert</a> and grew up listening to a variety of music in Philadelphia, especially jazz. He formed Asleep at the Wheel in Paw Paw, West Virginia in 1970, along with longtime friend <a href="spotify:artist:49zbNhoxeEEKbk9a5YAmWP">Lucky Oceans</a> (steel guitar) and <a href="spotify:artist:7i8kPgYFR2K3vDUNsWTXsK">Leroy Preston</a> (rhythm guitar). They soon added a female singer in <a href="spotify:artist:5fJ23krF2LH00QVoiAtXtH">Chris O'Connell</a>, who was fresh out of high school. Initially, the group played straight-ahead country in local venues, but quickly switched to Western swing when they discovered the music through <a href="spotify:artist:2ptmyXoL7poH6Zq62h1QT9">Merle Haggard</a> (specifically his <a href="spotify:artist:3YeRGjR8sa1PHjTUMjqsQg">Bob Wills</a> tribute album) and eclectic country-rockers <a href="spotify:artist:4KtaHyqLFlKKb7aghnWBfE">Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen</a>. In fact, <a href="spotify:artist:6MM9O5yu0cn6yqvJTaUptm">Commander Cody</a> helped the group sign with his own manager, Joe Kerr, who convinced them to move to San Francisco in late 1971. They subsequently added keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:0uv4ZbFiycvipJyzZiMIA2">Floyd Domino</a>, and secured a residency at Berkeley's Longbranch Saloon. Praise from <a href="spotify:artist:44NX2ffIYHr6D4n7RaZF7A">Van Morrison</a> in a Rolling Stone article helped them land a record deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22United+Artists%22">United Artists</a>, which released their debut album, Comin' Right at Ya, in 1973.

In 1974, Asleep at the Wheel relocated to the roots music haven of Austin, Texas, and also switched to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a> label. Their self-titled label debut appeared that same year, and their cover of <a href="spotify:artist:2nRbxpnBMMbtMBWH5QdqH2">Louis Jordan</a>'s "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" became their first single to hit the country charts. Afterwards, they added fiddler Lisa Silver and trumpeter Bobby Womack, and hopped labels again to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capitol%22">Capitol</a>. Released in 1975, Texas Gold was their breakthrough album, climbing into the country Top Ten and producing their only Top Ten hit on the country singles charts, "The Letter That Johnny Walker Read." That year they performed on the first non-pilot episode of Austin City Limits, and although they continued to experience personnel shifts, they turned out a string of excellent albums over the rest of the decade: Wheelin' and Dealin' (1976), The Wheel (1977), and Collision Course (1978), the latter of which featured their first Grammy winner in the instrumental cover of <a href="spotify:artist:2jFZlvIea42ZvcCw4OeEdA">Count Basie</a>'s "One O'Clock Jump."

Asleep at the Wheel moved to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MCA%22">MCA</a> for 1980's Framed, but all was not well: founding member <a href="spotify:artist:49zbNhoxeEEKbk9a5YAmWP">Lucky Oceans</a> left the group that year, and <a href="spotify:artist:5fJ23krF2LH00QVoiAtXtH">Chris O'Connell</a> took a leave of absence to start a family not long after. Plus, the group was heavily in debt, forcing the bandmembers to work on commercials and movie soundtracks. The financial problems conspired to keep them off record for the next few years, and when they returned on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dot%2FMCA%22">Dot/MCA</a> with a self-titled album in 1985, they were virtually ignored. Following the small-label release Pasture Prime later that year, <a href="spotify:artist:2G6E8Q9UTzDIhoawhJm33M">Benson</a> did some moonlighting as a producer, and soon managed to get a second shot with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a>. By now, <a href="spotify:artist:5fJ23krF2LH00QVoiAtXtH">O'Connell</a> had returned, and the new lineup featured fiddler <a href="spotify:artist:2N4kgBJtmWONgfNUCwze1A">Larry Franklin</a>, steel guitarist John Ely, pianist/accordionist Tim Alexander, saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:1BjOvhmndwFqdfTVQxs6KJ">Mike Francis</a>, bassist Jon Mitchell, and drummer David Sanger. This unit recorded the major comeback effort Asleep at the Wheel 10 in 1987, which brought them back to the Top 20 of the country album and singles charts (the latter via "House of Blue Lights") for the first time in over a decade. Additionally, the album's "String of Pars" won them their second Grammy for Best Country Instrumental, and featured contributions from fiddle legend and onetime Texas Playboy <a href="spotify:artist:3MNxoB8Ybc8SW79rnxy67T">Johnny Gimble</a>. The 1988 follow-up, Western Standard Time, continued their momentum, winning another Best Country Instrumental Grammy for "Sugarfoot Rag."

In 1990, Asleep at the Wheel moved to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Arista%22">Arista</a> and recorded Keepin' Me Up Nights, which flopped in comparison to its two predecessors. Major personnel turnover ensued, with <a href="spotify:artist:5fJ23krF2LH00QVoiAtXtH">O'Connell</a> leaving a second time, and <a href="spotify:artist:2G6E8Q9UTzDIhoawhJm33M">Benson</a> regrouped with <a href="spotify:artist:1BjOvhmndwFqdfTVQxs6KJ">Francis</a>, Sanger, fiddler Ricky Turpin, bassist David Miller, and steel guitarist/Dobroist <a href="spotify:artist:1Geygkl2ueTUPSA6EkUaj4">Cyndi Cashdollar</a>. They issued two albums on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Liberty%22">Liberty</a>/<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capitol%22">Capitol</a>, the acclaimed, guest-laden A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys (1993; featuring the Grammy-winning instrumental "Red Wing") and The Wheel Keeps on Rollin' (1995). Their next major studio project, Ride with Bob, was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DreamWorks%22">DreamWorks</a> in 1999 and featured fiddler Jason Roberts (a young relative of <a href="spotify:artist:3MNxoB8Ybc8SW79rnxy67T">Johnny Gimble</a>) and pianist/second fiddler Chris Booher. It was the group's second explicit tribute to <a href="spotify:artist:3YeRGjR8sa1PHjTUMjqsQg">Bob Wills</a>, and it attracted even more positive attention than the first, winning multiple Grammys and drawing non-country collaborators like <a href="spotify:artist:2dogRElUKV20C2khRHqjRc">the Manhattan Transfer</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0LIll5i3kwo5A3IDpipgkS">Squirrel Nut Zippers</a>. An album project with <a href="spotify:artist:5W5bDNCqJ1jbCgTxDD0Cb3">Willie Nelson</a>, Willie and the Wheel, appeared in 2009, followed by It's a Good Day, a collaboration with Texas Playboy great <a href="spotify:artist:6FYZFgCHs13F5JCGfp1nQ6">Leon Rausch</a>, in 2010. 

The hard-touring Asleep at the Wheel next released not one but two albums documenting their entertaining stage show -- 2012's Miles and Miles of Texas and 2014's Having a Party Live. In 2015, <a href="spotify:artist:2G6E8Q9UTzDIhoawhJm33M">Ray Benson</a> published an autobiography, Comin' Right at Ya (co-authored by David Menconi), chronicling his life and the history of Asleep at the Wheel. That same year, Asleep at the Wheel released their third <a href="spotify:artist:3YeRGjR8sa1PHjTUMjqsQg">Bob Wills</a> tribute album, Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. The album included a wide variety of guest performers, from <a href="spotify:artist:2ptmyXoL7poH6Zq62h1QT9">Merle Haggard</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0zlJDQgqnr9AocrH9gs1Es">Lyle Lovett</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:196lKsA13K3keVXMDFK66q">the Avett Brothers</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4DBi4EYXgiqbkxvWUXUzMi">Old Crow Medicine Show</a>. Still the King earned strong reviews and received a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package. Asleep at the Wheel returned with New Routes, a collection of largely new material, in 2018; it showcased new fiddler Katie Shore. The group celebrated their 50th anniversary with the release of 2021's Half a Hundred Years, an album that included guest appearances from friends and fans <a href="spotify:artist:5W5bDNCqJ1jbCgTxDD0Cb3">Willie Nelson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5vngPClqofybhPERIqQMYd">George Strait</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5s6TJEuHTr9GR894wc6VfP">Emmylou Harris</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0zlJDQgqnr9AocrH9gs1Es">Lyle Lovett</a>, as well as contributions from three members from the original lineup, <a href="spotify:artist:5fJ23krF2LH00QVoiAtXtH">Chris O’Connell</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:49zbNhoxeEEKbk9a5YAmWP">Lucky Oceans</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7i8kPgYFR2K3vDUNsWTXsK">Leroy Preston</a>.~ Steve Huey & Mark Deming

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Asleep At The Wheel

Asleep at the Wheel - Very Best of...

Asleep at the Wheel Top Picks For Relaxing

AATW Dance Picks

Backed by Asleep at the Wheel and Ray Benson, <a href="http://www.texasdancehalltour.com/">The Texas Dance Hall Tour</a> has set out to bring you the truest form of the dance hall experience there is! Spend an amazing week with these artists in beautiful weather touring dance halls throughout the Hill Country and further east into Schulenburg, La

Texas Dance Hall Tour

Join us and dust off the carols, spike the eggnog, and proceed to boogie—holiday style—with a very special 90-minute live stream concert dubbed Merry Texas Christmas, Y’all! We will take the stage at the Texas North Pole! Tickets here: https://bit.ly/AATWBIT 

Merry Texas Christmas, Y'all! 

Videos from 9-time Grammy winners Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel.

Asleep at the Wheel - Official

If this song doesn&#39;t bring tears to your eyes, you&#39;re not a HAG fan!

If this song doesn't bring tears to your eyes, you're not a HAG fan!

It is a shame that these guys don&#39;t get the recognition they deserve.  Excellent job

It is a shame that these guys don't get the recognition they deserve.  Excellent job

As  a state trooper we helped with security at one of Merle Haggards concerts and I got to meet him by shaking his hand. He could have just walked on but instead stopped and told us how much he appreciated me [us] patting my hand. Thank you for this tribute to him. He was not only talented but I believe a good man..

What a beautiful song. This what I call REAL COUNTRY MUSIC!

Roy Benson o interpretare a unei melodii country cu foarte mult suflet și înțelegere al acestui gen muzical ! Frumos de ascultat ! Genul muzical rezista datorită lor  ! ❤❤❤❤❤

Where has Dale Watson been all my life?  I&#39;m 74 years old and just discovered him. Now I&#39;m a fan for life. Love his music...

Where has Dale Watson been all my life?  I'm 74 years old and just discovered him. Now I'm a fan for life. Love his music...

Two of the best voices singing about one of the greatest.

This song sure hits home, tugs at the heart. Well done Ray Benson and Dale Watson. R.I.P. Merle

boy i miss this type of music on the air waves

Everyday when I come home from work, I put this on and have a beer. I am feeling Haggard in more ways than one after work!

Yeeee Hawwww!!!!! Jason Roberts &amp; Ray Benson...amongst the best ever in the industry!!

Yeeee Hawwww!!!!! Jason Roberts & Ray Benson...amongst the best ever in the industry!!

Danced this at our wedding close to 40 years ago. It was the dance everybody in San Antonio had to have at every prom, wedding and quiceanera! God Bless Texas.

An 800 year old Scottish song that&#39;s had the lyrics changed several times and reintroduced with a modified slip-jig back in the 1970s. Love it.

An 800 year old Scottish song that's had the lyrics changed several times and reintroduced with a modified slip-jig back in the 1970s. Love it.

Love Asleep At The Wheel! Such an immensely talented group of musicians, and those 3-4-5-part harmonies are where it&#39;s at!

Love Asleep At The Wheel! Such an immensely talented group of musicians, and those 3-4-5-part harmonies are where it's at!

From South Central Texas and Cotton yet Joe is always paid at wedding&#39;s. I love how to dance to this back in the 70&#39;s. Bullshit!!

From South Central Texas and Cotton yet Joe is always paid at wedding's. I love how to dance to this back in the 70's. Bullshit!!

I could listen to Jason Roberts play fiddle all day every day.

This band is phenomenal and that guy really plays the fiddle well.

True American spirit, captured in song. Dawn Sears ... such a phenomenal voice! No wonder Vince Gill grabbed her talent for The Time Jumpers. Beloved Dawn, may you rest in peace.

One of the best lost love songs ever written. Bob Wills legeng will live forever when ever someone does this song.

LOVE  Vince  @ Dawn  singing  Merles  @ Bonnie&#39;s   beautiful song. FADED LOVE. Thank you all  Elizabeth❤❤❤❤❤❤ Scotland.❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

LOVE  Vince  @ Dawn  singing  Merles  @ Bonnie's   beautiful song. FADED LOVE. Thank you all  Elizabeth❤❤❤❤❤❤ Scotland.❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

RIP Dawn Sears...and Thank You. You sang it, as usual,to perfection.

NOTHING sweeter then hearing this echo around a Wood Framed Dance Hall on a Sat. night. I miss those days. Just hearing this from outside as you got out of your car and headed to the entrance was enough to FILL YOUR HEART WITH JOY and Anticipation of a GOOD NIGHT&#39;S Entertainment

NOTHING sweeter then hearing this echo around a Wood Framed Dance Hall on a Sat. night. I miss those days. Just hearing this from outside as you got out of your car and headed to the entrance was enough to FILL YOUR HEART WITH JOY and Anticipation of a GOOD NIGHT'S Entertainment

I come to this site frequently to listen to Dawn Sears and her awesome voice.  The soul that she puts into everything she performs is precious.  And now that she has gone on to a life without pain, I&#39;m glad we have so many of her performances with Kenny and the Time Jumpers to remind us of her gifted voice.  Thank you YouTube.

I come to this site frequently to listen to Dawn Sears and her awesome voice.  The soul that she puts into everything she performs is precious.  And now that she has gone on to a life without pain, I'm glad we have so many of her performances with Kenny and the Time Jumpers to remind us of her gifted voice.  Thank you YouTube.

Dawn Sears! &quot;With every heartbeat I think of you&quot;.  What a great talent.  What a great loss.

Dawn Sears! "With every heartbeat I think of you".  What a great talent.  What a great loss.

beautiful‼️<br>I love  this song.<br>from Japan.

beautiful‼️
I love  this song.
from Japan.

AATW Promo

AATW Live Performances

AATW Music Videos

AATW TV Performances

Asleep at the Wheel Live in 2007 on ME TV. With guests Damian Green on fiddle and Floyd Domino on keys.

Asleep at the Wheel - ME Live 2007

From Dale Watson and Ray Benson's first ever collaboration- "Dale and Ray" 

Website: http://bit.ly/2ipY8BM
Amazon: https://a.co/d/5LsKaaQ
Apple iTunes: https://music.apple.com/us/album/dale-ray/1186068209
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7zykLlbU9sSzbxU2sBhIPg?si=BUJARsKSTYm-M79fG88KSg

"Feelin' Haggard" Dale Watson and Ray Benson (Official Video)

From the 2003 DVD Live at Billy Bob's Texas and can be purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0000E32YW/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&qid=1328130218&sr=1-2&condition=new

Cotton Eyed Joe by Asleep at the Wheel

Video "featurette" with a behind the scenes look at "Faded Love" (with The Time Jumpers) available on the new album, "Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys" out NOW! 

Available at Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Hastings, Transworld, Cracker Barrel, your local independent music retailer and all digital outlets including:

iTunes: tinyurl.com/STKiTunes
Amazon: tinyurl.com/StillTheKing

asleep at the wheel
Released by:
Bismeaux Records

Asleep at the Wheel "Faded Love" (with The Time Jumpers)

Asleep at the Wheel live at The Broken Spoke in Austin, TX. Recorded on December 21, 2007.

Cotton Eyed Joe - Live - Asleep at the Wheel

Performed by Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel on Austin City Limits TV show in 2009. http://www.willieandthewheel.com
Purchase the music from Asleep at the Wheel here: http://www.doublestereo.com/asleepatthewheel/store

Oh, You Pretty Woman by Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel

The first single from the album "Willie and The Wheel" by Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel. Bismeaux Records 2009. Purchase the song here: http://www.doublestereo.com/asleepatthewheel/store

Hesitation Blues by Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel

A Ride With Bob is a two-act musical tribute to Western swing king Bob Wills, conceived by screenwriter Anne Rapp and Wills' biggest disciple, Ray Benson of the band Asleep at the Wheel.
http://www.aridewithbob.com

A Ride With Bob: The Bob Wills Musical

The First single from Asleep at the Wheel's newest studio recording Reinventing the Wheel. Directed by Dan Karlok.
Song is available for purchase at www.asleepatthewheel.com

Am I Right (Or Amarillo) by Asleep at the Wheel

Asleep at the Wheel performs Boogie Back To Texas from the 2003 DVD Live at Billy Bob's Texas. Purchase the DVD here: http://www.doublestereo.com/asleepatthewheel/store

Boogie Back To Texas

2003 video from Live at Billy Bob's Texas which can be purchased here: http://www.doublestereo.com/asleepatthewheel/store

Dance With Who Brung Ya

On February 21, 2008, Barack Obama joins Asleep at the Wheel in singin "Boogie Back to Texas" at the Austin Music Hall. Purchase Asleep at the Wheel music here: http://www.doublestereo.com/asleepatthewheel/store

Barack Obama Sings with Asleep at the Wheel

Half A Hundred Years is a nineteen-track celebration of Asleep At The Wheel’s half-century-long career, filled out by a number of world-class friends of the band; Greats like Willie Nelson, George Strait , Emmylou Harris, Lee Ann Womack, and Lyle Lovett appear throughout Half A Hundred Years on a host of classic and destined-to-be-classic Western Swing and Country tunes.
Pre-order or pre-save 'Half A Hundred Years' here: https://orcd.co/halfahundredyears

DIRECTOR: AARON SEIFERT
PRODUCER: SAM SEIFERT
EDITOR: AARON SEIFERT
GREEN SCREEN CINEMATOGRAPHY: RYAN SCHMIDT
GREEN SCREEN VFX/ADDITIONAL VFX: BRYCE HAGAN

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
LOUIS BLACK PRODUCTIONS
TEXAS CREW PRODUCTIONS
ADURO STUDIOS & FILM
MOTION ARRAY

FB: https://www.facebook.com/asleepatthewheel 
IG: https://www.instagram.com/asleepatthewheel1970/
TW: https://twitter.com/aatw1969 
Website: https://www.asleepatthewheel.com

Asleep at the Wheel - 'Half A Hundred Years'

In March 2007, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price performed on-stage together for the first time in the Last of the Breed tour. No one else sings country music with the passion and purity of these elder statesmen of classic country music. Now the final epic performance of this history-making tour has been captured in high definition and 5.1 digital Surround Sound to give fans the ultimate concert experience. Backed by Asleep at the Wheel (led by Ray Benson) and Ray Price's Cherokee Cowboys, this DVD delivers a feature-length master class in honky-tonk and Western swing. Purchase the DVD here: http://www.amazon.com/Willie-Nelson-Last-Breed-Concert/dp/B000S0GYMU/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1328133220&sr=1-1

Last of the Breed Highlight Video

Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel is commemorating its 50th year with a new, three-song EP, Better Times. Bandleader and founding member Ray Benson takes the lead vocal on the title track, a hopeful original written while riding out the pandemic. Katie Shore sings “All I’m Asking,” a rousing request to get back together, written by Band of Heathens’ Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist. Meanwhile, Benson and Shore harmonize on “Columbus Stockade Blues,” a traditional tune arranged in the spirit of Willie Nelson and Shirley Collie’s 1960s version. Ray Benson produced the EP for Bismeaux Records.

PRE-ORDER VINYL & CD NOW: https://store.asleepatthewheel.com/collections/music-and-books 
PRE-SAVE NOW: https://smarturl.it/BetterTimes

Website: https://www.asleepatthewheel.com
Facebook: @asleepatthewheel
Twitter: @aatw1969
Instagram: @asleepatthewheel1970

'Better Times' Asleep at the Wheel [OFFICAL MUSIC VIDEO]

Ray Benson and Katie Shore "I Love You Don't Touch me"

Video "featurette" with a behind the scenes look at "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" (with Kat Edmonson) available on the new album, "Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys" out NOW! 

Available at Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Hastings, Transworld, Cracker Barrel, your local independent music retailer and all digital outlets including:

iTunes: tinyurl.com/STKiTunes
Amazon: tinyurl.com/StillTheKing

asleep at the wheel
Released by:
Bismeaux Records

Asleep at the Wheel "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" (with Kat Edmonson)

Video "featurette" with a behind the scenes look at "I Hear Ya Talkin'" (with Amos Lee) available on the new album, "Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys" out NOW! 

Available at Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Hastings, Transworld, Cracker Barrel, your local independent music retailer and all digital outlets including:

iTunes: tinyurl.com/STKiTunes
Amazon: tinyurl.com/StillTheKing

asleep at the wheel
Released by:
Bismeaux Records

Asleep at the Wheel "I Hear Ya Talkin'" (with Amos Lee)

Video "featurette" with a behind the scenes look at "What's the Matter with the Mill" (with Pokey LaFarge) available on the new album, "Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys" out NOW! 

Available at Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Hastings, Transworld, Cracker Barrel, your local independent music retailer and all digital outlets including:

iTunes: tinyurl.com/STKiTunes
Amazon: tinyurl.com/StillTheKing

asleep at the wheel
Released by:
Bismeaux Records

Asleep at the Wheel "What's The Matter With The Mill" (with Pokey LaFarge)

“After 50 plus years of collecting, I realized it’s time for me to clean house and let someone else enjoy them for a while,” Ray says.
“I wouldn’t say that I became a collector on purpose, but over my 50+ years of being in the music and entertainment industry, traveling the world doing what I love,” said Benson, “I’ve accumulated a vast collection of some really cool stuff! From the bay area music scene of the early ‘70s, to the Austin ‘Cosmic Cowboy’ movement. Hats, boots, posters, cars and guitars! It’s time for me to part ways and allow these items to find a new home and bring nostalgia and happiness to others.”
Along the way, he has kept remembrances chronicling his and Asleep at the Wheel’s career, as well as those of his friends and collaborators, such as Willie Nelson, George Strait, Dolly Parton, Commander Cody and many more. Collectibles that will be up for bid include custom iconic guitars, vintage posters, classic cars, a custom motorcycle, stage and movie outfits and neon signs. This unique collection showcases the history of Texas’ storied music scene and beyond. The online catalog of available items and registration details for both the live in-person and online auction can be found at BurleyAuction.com. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Texas Dance Hall Preservation, Inc. dedicated to helping save Texas’ historic dance halls.
BID NOW: https://burley-auction-group.liveauctioneers.com/.../261.../

Ray Benson’s 50+ year collection Auction is available for online bidding NOW!

Here’s one to play while posing for the holiday:

“The Photo” off the 50th anniversary record Half a Hundred Years, is 1 of 3 songs written solely by Leroy Preston. 

“Maybe now when I wake up in the middle of the night
I won’t stare into your eyes when I turn on the light”

Purchase & play: https://store.asleepatthewheel.com/

"The Photo" on Half a Hundred Years

'Half a Hundred Years' is still fresh on the market and Christmas is not far off!

'Half a Hundred Years' Later & the Record Still Rolls

Asleep at the Wheel has been making music for 50 years now and will celebrate their half-century long career with a 3-hour performance at the brand-new outdoor Waterloo Park on Friday, October 15.  The lineup includes current members, long-standing Asleep at the Wheel alumni AND a very special guest fans of country music won’t want to miss.

The line-up will feature a very special guest joining the band for one set. Also appearing will be jazz sweetheart Kat Edmondson, iconic singer/songwriter Brennen Leigh, alumni Cindy Cashdollar, Floyd Domino, Danny Levin, Jason Roberts, John Michael Whitby, David Sanger, Tony Garnier, original singer Chris O’Connell and band co-founder Leroy Preston.
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW: https://bit.ly/AATW50YT 
 
The Wheel will be celebrating the October 1st release of ‘Half A Hundred Years,’ a nineteen-track double LP featuring original AATW members recording together for the first time in over 40 years. A number of world-class friends of the band, including Willie Nelson, George Strait, Emmylou Harris, Lee Ann Womack, and Lyle Lovett appear throughout ‘Half A Hundred Years’ on a host of classic AATW and destined-to-be-classic brand-new tunes.
PRE ORDER 'HALF A HUNDRED YEARS' NOW: https://orcd.co/halfahundredyears

‘CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL' at Waterloo Park in Austin, TX on October 15th

Terry Lickona interviewing Ray Benson about Austin City Limits episode, "ACL Presents: 50 Years of Asleep at the Wheel" at Studio 6a in Austin, Texas.

The full retrospective of Asleep at the Wheel's 11 episodes on Austin City Limits starting with the first episode in 1975 airs on PBS on October 31st. 
Check your local listings for when it will air in your town!

Asleep at the Wheel

Half a Hundred Years

New Routes

Lone Star Christmas Night

Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys

Havin' a Party - Live

Country Masters: Asleep at the Wheel (Live!)

The Best of Country Stars Asleep At the Wheel

Country Legend Vol.3

The Letter That Johnny Walker Read

House Of Blue Lights

Mele Kalikimaka

There You Go Again (feat. Lyle Lovett)

Take Me Back to Tulsa (feat. George Strait and Willie Nelson)

Half a Hundred Years

Better Times

Willie Got There First (feat. Seth and Scott Avett)

Seven Nights to Rock

Jack I'm Mellow

Hot Rod Lincoln (Live)

Hesitation Blues