Asleep At The Wheel

Asleep at the Wheel started in Pawhuska, Oklahoma in the early 1970s, led by vocalist and accordionist Ray Benson. They built their reputation on authentic versions of Bob Wills tunes, which felt like a fresh take on Western swing at a time when the genre wasn't getting much attention. In 1975, their song 'The Letter That Johnny Walker Read' became a top-ten country hit, a ballad about a soldier's last message home that brought them into the mainstream without smoothing out their sound.

The band has kept a fairly steady lineup with Ray Benson at the center, along with players like Lucky Oceans on steel guitar, David Sanger on guitar, Dennis Wage on fiddle, and Eddie Rivers on drums. They were inducted into the Western Swing Hall of Fame, which feels like a natural fit for a group that's spent fifty years playing this music without much compromise.

Asleep at the Wheel's dedication to the genre has sometimes put them at odds with country radio trends, but they've stayed with it anyway. Their shows are less about nostalgia and more about keeping the music alive, and you can hear that in how they handle a tune like 'St. Louis Blues' or 'Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens', it's precise but never stiff.