Asleep at the Wheel
TICKETS: $57 per person, reserved seating. Rows A & B removed for dance space!
CASH BAR: beer, wine, soda & water available for purchase before and during the concert, courtesy of The Comedy Arena
Asleep at the Wheel’s lineup is ever changing. Since 1970 the band has had over 100 members come through. In the past, when a new member or two has joined a new album has emerged. In 2025 that still remains true. “We had some more lineup changes after the pandemic and our 50th anniversary tour,” says Benson. “We had some folks who had been with us for a while move on. But, like always, we kept playing live shows and searching for the next members to identify themselves – here we are!”
One key and important role in Asleep at the Wheel and in Texas and Western Swing music is the fiddle. “It’s crazy to think that Ian Stewart, our newest vocalist and fiddler, grew up five minutes away from my house and that had nothing to do with the reason he is in the band,” says Benson. “Ian had a residency at the Broken Spoke as his own act. Danny Levin, who was there at the start of AATW in West Virginia and was in the band through the 70’s and early 80’s, had a relationship with Ian and a group with him and suggested him for the gig. Danny’s word was enough for me – he knows the gig as much as anyone.”
What has followed the recent lineup change is a steady dose of touring the world – and now the band’s 32nd record Riding High In Texas, featuring Stewart and Benson as the band’s lead vocalists. This marks AATW’s first new release since their 50th anniversary project Half A Hundred Years in 2021.
“I have always wanted to do a ‘Texas’ record – a thank you and love letter to this state that has given me and the band so much. I also thought it was the right project to take on with the new faces we had in the band, who had never been on record before,” says Benson. “Within these tracks there’s an unmistakable musical tradition that you can’t get anywhere else – except deep in the heart of Texas,” says Stewart.
Joining Stewart for their very first Wheel album appearances are Michael Archer (bass), Curtis Clogston (steel guitar/dobro) and Lyon Graulty (horns). AATW former members Danny Levin (piano/fiddle), Joey Colarusso (horns) and David Sanger (drums) round out the group for Riding High In Texas.
