Making their fifth appearance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, Asleep at the Wheel is now as much of a Festival tradition as the blasting of the Star Wars fanfare that heralds the opening of the gates each year. Which is only fitting, given that Ray Benson’s Grammy-winning (many, many times over) Western swing preservation society has been an Austin institution since first blowing into town 23 years ago, fresh from the anything-goes psychedelic ballrooms of San Francisco (the Wheel’s first stop after rolling out its native Paw, Paw, W. Va..). Even an abridged list of the band’s achievements is staggering: nine Grammys, a record 10 appearances on TV’s Austin City Limits, a full-blown theatrical salute to Bob Wills (A Ride With Bob, named after one of the Wheel’s two acclaimed, guest-star-studded Wills tribute albums) and thousands upon thousands of road miles logged both on their own and with tour mates like Bob Dylan and George Strait. Of course the lineup’s changed countless times over the course of the band’s 36-year career, but with Benson ever at the wheel, fans can always be rest assured that AATW will always feature some of the best pickers, fiddlers and singers in all of Texas.
