Here is a two-for-one day! Asleep at the Wheel is one of those bands I always knew of, but never really took the time to explore. I’m glad I finally did. They were led by Ray Benson; the group became one of the biggest champions of Western Swing at a time when country music was moving in different directions. Instead of the normal Nashville sound, they looked back to the music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and proved there was still plenty of life left in those songs and that style. Benson once said that Ray Charles’ Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music “opened more musical windows for more people than any other record before or since.” That appreciation for musical freedom runs through Asleep at the Wheel’s career.
I like discovering where musical roads meet. Bob Wills inspired Ray Benson. Ray Benson helped keep Western Swing alive for another generation. Along the way, you can hear connections to artists like Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, and voices like Maryann Price helped shape the band’s sound. If you’ve never explored Asleep at the Wheel beyond hearing the name, these two songs are a great place to begin. They don’t just celebrate Texas music. They celebrate a style that still swings as naturally today as it did more than seventy years ago.
They were formed in 1970 in West Virginia before finding their true home in Austin, Texas. Austin was becoming a gathering place for musicians who didn’t worry much about labels. Country, rock, jazz, blues, and swing all mixed together there. Along the way, Asleep at the Wheel crossed paths with artists like Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, who blended swing, jazz, and humor into their own unique sound. Both acts drew from many of the same musical roots while creating something that felt fresh. Another important voice was Maryann Price, whose vocals became one of the band’s trademarks during some of its best-known years and helped bring even more authenticity to their Western Swing revival.
“Miles and Miles of Texas” may be the band’s signature song. Released in 1976 on Wheelin’ and Dealin’, it captures everything that makes Asleep at the Wheel so enjoyable. The fiddle, steel guitar and swinging rhythm feel like they belong in another era, yet the recording never sounds dated. It’s upbeat, fun and impossible not to smile through. More than anything, it helped introduce a new generation of listeners to Western Swing and reminded people why Bob Wills’ influence still mattered decades later. It peaked at #38 in the Billboard Country Charts in 1976.
“Way Down Texas Way” reaches even further back. Originally recorded by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in the 1940s, the song is pure Western Swing with its danceable rhythm and country-jazz feel. Asleep at the Wheel doesn’t simply copy the original. They play it with genuine respect while making it sound like it belongs right alongside their own material. That’s one of the band’s greatest strengths. They kept it alive by playing it with energy and heart. This song peaked at #39 on the Billboard Country Charts in 1987.
Way Down Texas Way
Adios, goodbye amigos I am leaving you today
Ain’t nobody round this town that’s gonna miss me anyway
This old money making’s taking all the time I have to play
Mama, hush your mouth, I’m headed south, way down Texas way
Way down Texas way they play good music every night
And the dance hall rings with laughter ’til the early morning light
When them cowboys get through picking
There’s not much that’s left to say
But you can really have a good time honey, way down Texas way
Aw, Texas fiddle
The road of life is paved with good intentions I am told
So I best be on my way now or I may not ever go
Ain’t no need to be a-begging me to stay just one more day
This old wild goose is cutting loose way down Texas way
Way down Texas way they play fiddle music every night
And the dance hall rings with laughter ’til the early morning light
When them cowboys get through picking
There’s not much that’s left to say
But you can really have a good time sugar, way down Texas way
Way down Texas way
