Ten-time Grammy Award-winning band Asleep at the Wheel is bringing Western swing music to the islands this month. Ray Benson, front man of the band for over 50 years, and his latest collection of musicians will be at the San Juan Community Theatre in Friday Harbor at 7:30 p.m. on March 15 and the Orcas Center in Eastsound on March 16. Tickets can be purchased online for both venues.
“Our fans are pretty knowledgeable about what we do,” Benson said in a deep bass drawl when asked what islanders could expect at the show. “A lot of them started listening to our first records back in the early 70s; they know what we do. Basically I play the first songs we recorded 50 years ago, and then the newest songs we recorded just recently. And then a hundred songs we just do because we like ‘em. So there’s a lot of variety to what we do.”
Their last visit to Friday Harbor was in 2022, and the islands hold a special place in the heart of the singer who has traveled the world touring for over half a century.
“We get on the bus, and it’s a different town every night. Different town, different venue, different food, different people,” he explained. “It’s pretty amazing from my point of view because I know America more than most people. I’ve been to every state, every small town, every big town. I’m very lucky to have been able to experience this. But I love the islands. If I had my druthers, one day I’d end up there.”
Born in Pennsylvania, Benson ended up in West Virginia, where he started Asleep at the Wheel. They ended up in California, searching for fame, before Willie Nelson himself told Benson he better get to Texas.
“Willie said, ‘What are you doing in California? You sound like you’re from Texas,’” Benson laughed. “We played a lot of little honkytonks together and we just became best friends.”
Asleep at the Wheel has worked a lot with Willie Nelson – other big names, too, spanning genres and generations: Brad Paisley, Jamey Johnson, Merle Haggard, George Strait, the Avett Brothers, Amos Lee, Old Crow Medicine Show and Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris and Lee Ann Womack.
Benson has been playing for a long time and has watched the state of country-western music shift over the years. He likes to bring the Western back into country-western music.
“Country music is what comes out of Nashville now, but we play country western,” he clarified. “We do western swing, we do boogie woogie. We’re a very eclectic mix of music, which is why we’ve stayed around. For some reason, Nashville eliminated the western part of country music, but they still wear cowboy hats.”
Country-western is what they’ll bring to the islands later this month. In fact, Benson will be at the Orcas Center on the night of his 74th birthday.
“Age is just a number, but I’ve sure got a lot of them,” he chuckled.
He has a lot of many kinds of numbers – years touring, artists he collaborated with, bandmates in and out of the group, albums recorded, TV shows and movies released and Grammys won.
“It took me 60 years, but I’m doing what I’m meant to do – singing and playing and writing better than I ever have,” Benson says on his website. “A bandleader is just someone who gathers people around them to play the best music they can play. I just try and make the best decisions possible and kick some ass every night onstage.”
For more information or to buy tickets to the Community Theatre performance, visit https://www.sjctheatre.org.
For more information or to buy tickets to the Orcas Center performance, visit https://orcascenter.org.
