Willie Nelson and Asleep At The Wheel February 21, 2009

Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel have announced upcoming tour dates, including a Saturday, February 21st (8:00 pm) appearance at Greensboro’s War Memorial Auditorium, to support the release of their CD collaboration Willie & The Wheel, due February 3, 2009.

Tickets will go on sale Friday, December 5th at 10:00 am at www.ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster outlets including participating area Lowes Foods locations, FYE and Macy’s stores, charge by phone at 336-852-1100 or at the Greensboro Coliseum box office.

A concept thirty years in the making, this new recording is a collection of classic western swing songs hand-picked by the late Jerry Wexler.

"Jerry wanted us to do this album and I'm glad we got to do it for him, “says Willie Nelson. “And that he heard it before he passed on."

“Willie & the Wheel is a CD whose time has come,” says Ray Benson. “Jerry Wexler originally came up with this concept back when Willie was on the Atlantic label. But, before the record could be made Willie left Atlantic for CBS records and so the idea was shelved.”

Ray adds, “Willie and I are cooking up quite a concert. Not only will we be showcasing songs from the new album, we’ll also perform Willie’s classics and there will be a few surprises too!”

Better known as ‘Mr. R&B’, Jerry Wexler was a great fan of the original Western Swing bands like Bob Wills, Milton Brown and Cliff Bruner – all first introduced to him while he was studying journalism in Kansas City. Willie Nelson also had grown up on western swing and it has always figured heavily into his approach to music. Finally Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel (hailed as the modern kings of western swing) were added, resulting in a sublime album, surefooted in its mastery but still as playful and daring as the originals. Such a fitting collaboration certainly begs the question as to why this hasn’t happened already.

In 2007, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Ray Price and Asleep at the Wheel set out on the wildly successful Last of the Breed tour and PBS television broadcast - showcasing classic western swing and Texas country music. Not long after, Ray Benson got the call from Willie and his manager.

According to Ray, they asked, "’Jerry Wexler thinks now’s the time to do the western swing CD.” From a catalogue of nearly 40 selections Jerry and Ray painstakingly narrowed the list down to twelve. Always the producer with a vision, Jerry was involved in every way. He insisted that some of the tracks should include horns as well as a return to traditional fiddles and lap steel guitar associated with western swing.
“It was a sad day indeed when the news came in that Jerry Wexler had passed away,” says Ray. “We’re so proud to have had this opportunity to make this record with him.”