Asleep At The Wheel Celebrate Texas With New Collection
(IVPR) "It's been fifty five years for Asleep At The Wheel as a band, and fifty of them have been spent in Texas," says the incomparable band's founder and fearless leader, Ray Benson. "We are known worldwide for being a Texas band and playing Texas and Western Swing music, and it gives us great pride to carry this torch and responsibility." To honor the five decade mark in the Lonestar State, the Wheel had no choice but to dedicate their upcoming 32nd album-yes, you read that correctly-to the adopted home that made all of their dreams come true.
Out on August 22nd via Bismeaux Records and Signature Sounds Recordings, the record dubbed Riding High In Texas is a ten-song collection of some of the best songs about the 28th state from a wide range of songwriters like Jimmie Rogers, Guy Clark, and Charlie Daniels-with some A-list collaborations with Lyle Lovett and Billy Strings, to boot. And for a band whose lineup is ever-changing-since 1970, the Wheel has had over one hundred members come through-Riding High In Texas is also an opportunity to introduce a new face in the band with fiddler and vocalist Ian Stewart joining Benson and company. Suggested to Benson by long-time Asleep At The Wheel band member, Danny Levin, Stewart fit right into the ensemble. "Danny's word was enough for me," says Benson. "He knows the gig as much as anyone."
Today, Asleep At The Wheel shared the first single from Riding High In Texas, "Texas In My Soul." Written by Ernest Tubb and popularized by Willie Nelson, "Texas In My Soul" was chosen for the project because it resonated with, in Benson's words, "How we felt in 1974 when the band moved to Texas." Ripe with everything that makes the Wheel the Wheel, "Texas In My Soul" is full of tTwin fiddles, steel guitar licks, and a crispy, clean piano solo, all underpinning Benson's smooth delivery of the song's classic lyrics: "It is there I know my place is. I see only smiling faces."
Riding High In Texas Tracklist:
Riding High In Texas
Texas In My Soul
Long Tall Texan
Texas
Texas Cookin'
Lonesome Pine Special
T for Texas (Blue Yodel #1)
All My Exes (Live in Texas)
There's Still a Lot of Love in San Antone
Beaumont Rag
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