Asleep at the Wheel will bring its particular brand of Western Swing when it joins with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra at 5 p.m. Sunday in Rudder Auditorium. Tickets are $40, available at the MSC Box Office, boxoffice.tamu.edu.
Fifty-one years ago — at the height of the protest movement against the war in Vietnam — a group of musicians came together with the goal of perpetuating American roots music, including the Western Swing sounds of Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.
The band, Asleep at the Wheel, landed a gig opening for Alice Cooper and Hot Tuna in Washington, D.C., in 1970 and history was made.
Recalling the protest songs then ruling the airwaves, group founder Ray Benson said, “We were too country for the rock folks and we were too long-haired for the country folks. But everybody got over it once the music started playing.”
Now, continuing its pandemic-delayed 50th anniversary tour, Asleep at the Wheel will bring its special brand of American music to Rudder Auditorium when it joins with our Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are going fast, with few seats available on the main floor. Seats are available in the mezzanine.
Tickets are $40 each and are available at the MSC Box Office at boxoffice.tamu.edu. The box office will be open from 4 p.m. to concert time Sunday.
Asleep at the Wheel has released more than 25 studio albums and received 10 Grammy Awards. Billboard magazine said, “Everything this act has ever released is simply spectacular.”
The band moved from West Virginia to California before settling in Austin for good — in every sense of the term.
The band’s big break came in 1973 when Van Morrison told Rolling Stone magazine, “There’s some relatively unknown group around that I really dig. Asleep at the Wheel, they play great country music.”
Asleep at the Wheel captured the hearts of many folks in the Brazos Valley more than a decade ago when it joined MSC OPAS for the Ride With Bob concert paying tribute to Wills.
Although it performs many styles of music, Asleep at the Wheel is perhaps most associated with Wills, the King of Western Swing. Benson calls that music “jazz with a cowboy hat.”
Over the years, more than 80 musicians have joined and then moved on from Asleep at the Wheel, some to perform with Lyle Lovett, George Strait and Bob Dylan.
Asleep at the Wheel was named Touring Band of the Year at the Country Music Association awards in 1976. At the Americana Music Awards in 2009, Asleep at the Wheel received the Lifetime Achievement in Performance award.
Now traveling as an eight-piece band, Asleep at the Wheel has ranged in size from seven to 15 musicians over the years.
Sunday’s concert is sponsored by the Clearfield family, headed by Abraham Clearfield of Bryan.
June 19, 2021 at 12:00PM
https://theeagle.com/news/local/asleep-at-the-wheel-joins-brazos-valley-symphony-orchestra-this-sunday/article_3dcd243c-d07c-11eb-b7d3-5339a7bdc89a.html
Asleep at the Wheel joins Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra this Sunday - Bryan-College Station Eagle
https://news.google.com/search?q=Wheel&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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