New music Asleep At The Wheel
Asleep at the Wheel
New EP ‘Better Times‘
First in a year-long celebration of band’s 50th anniversary
Fifty years ago, Ray Benson and his band Asleep at the Wheel started carrying the torch of some of America’s favourite music (country and western, swing, honky tonk rock n roll) and amassing an intensely loyal fan base.
Fast forward five decades to find Benson and crew still bearing that torch, albeit with quite a few more fans and albums under their belt. To begin the celebration of its 50th anniversary, Asleep at the Wheel is releasing some new music ahead of tour dates through Texas and Missouri this June, an appetizer of sorts for what’s to come from their momentous anniversary year.
To kick things off, he band has released a three-song EP dubbed Better Times, produced by Benson for Bismeaux Records. Benson takes the lead vocal on the title track, a hopeful original written while riding out the pandemic. Asleep at the Wheel vocalist and fiddler Katie Shore sings “All I’m Asking,” a rousing request to get back together, written by Band of Heathens’ Ed Jurdi and Gordi 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. Click here to listen or purchase Better Times.
Asleep at the Wheel will be hitting the road to celebrate.
More about Asleep at The Wheel: Founded in 1970, Asleep at the Wheel has been part of the American roots music landscape for more than fifty years. Although the band got its start on a farm in Paw Paw, West Virginia, Asleep at the Wheel became a cornerstone of the Austin, Texas, scene upon its arrival in 1973. Inspired by Western swing and honky-tonk country, the band has received 10 GRAMMY® Awards, was cited by the Country Music Association as the 1976 Touring Band of the Year, and was given the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Americana Music Association. They have released 31 albums and charted more than 20 singles on the country charts.
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New music Asleep At The Wheel
