Boy howdy!

Boy howdy!

Asleep at the Wheel to turn the MACC into western swing roadhouse

Led by Ray Benson on vocals and guitar, Asleep at the Wheel features Dan Walton (from left) on piano, David Miller on bass, Jason Roberts on fiddle, Elizabeth McQueen on vocals and guitar, David Sanger on drums and Eddie Rivers on pedal steel.

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Led by Ray Benson on vocals and guitar, Asleep at the Wheel features Dan Walton (from left) on piano, David Miller on bass, Jason Roberts on fiddle, Elizabeth McQueen on vocals and guitar, David Sanger on drums and Eddie Rivers on pedal steel.

Pianist Christopher O’Reilly performs in concert tonight in Castle Theater.

Without Willie Nelson's encouragement we might never have heard of the great, multi-Grammy Award-winning western swing band Asleep at the Wheel.

Recently celebrating 40 years in the business, back in the early 1970s, they were a struggling band based in San Francisco, that would sometimes back visiting country artists.

"Willie heard there were these long-haired kids playing Bob Wills' music," Asleep at the Wheel's founder Ray Benson recalls. "He basically said, we're creating a scene here (in Austin, Texas) - come on down, we need you. We became good friends, and he would put us on shows. It was really cool."

Moving to Austin, in time the band became almost synonymous with the Lone Star state, and last year they were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Americana Album for "Willie and the Wheel," a superb, critically acclaimed collaboration with their legendary mentor.

"Bright, playful and exploding with verve, 'Willie and the Wheel' is one of the great albums of 2009," raved the Washington Post. The U.K. Guardian hailed it as "a brilliant revival of the glories of western swing, the smooth ballroom style that dominated Americas Southwest in the 1940s." And Austin Music City proclaimed it "one of the finest albums ever recorded."

The project dates back many years to when noted Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler helped launch Nelson's outlaw-country career. Wexler had wanted him to record a western swing album, but the idea was dropped when Nelson left the label. Fast forward to 2003, when Wexler gifted Asleep's Benson with a trove of old western swing albums, and Benson noticed the initials "W.N." written beside some of the songs.

"We had previously backed Willie with Merle Haggard and Ray Price on 'The Last of the Breed' TV show and tour," Benson explains. "Jerry Wexler saw that and called up Willie's manager and said, 'Why don't you have Willie and Asleep at the Wheel do this album that I've been wanting to do of western swing tunes?' So Willie's manager called me up and says, 'Wexler says you have the list of songs.' I didn't know what he was talking about, but I said sure. I went back and picked up the albums and there was WN written by the side of them. Doing the record was a high point of my career."

Willie also sings on the band's most recent album, "It's a Good Day," which teams Asleep at the Wheel with famed Texas Playboy Leon Rausch for their first recording together. Rausch first joined Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys in 1958.

"Whether you're a die-hard or casual fan of Asleep at the Wheel, one thing is certain: Everything this act has ever released is simply spectacular," praised Billboard Magazine. "And the veteran western swing band's latest album is no different."

Western swing is a genre of country dance music popularized by groups like Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys in the 1930s and '40s. While recording "Willie and the Wheel," Nelson told Benson: " 'We didn't know it was called western swing until many years later. Neither did Bob Wills.' It was just the music they played for dances."

Growing up in Philadelphia, Benson gravitated to playing to this infectious style through a passion for American roots music.

"As a young kid it became obvious to me that there's a great trove of American music that's not necessarily on Top 40 radio," he notes. "I started playing folk music at the age of 9, then I got into country blues and that's the roots of western swing. If you look at the 'Willie and the Wheel' record, some of the songs are from the early blues guys."

"We wanted to be a country-and-western hit act," he continues. "That was different to have these long-haired kids from the East Coast get chart records. And we were actually the first band in straight country music. It was Merle Haggard and the Strangers, Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. We had a big Top 10 hit in 1972, but at that point we said we love country music but we really want to play western swing. It was almost evangelical to get this music out to people. They started appreciating it, and people would say, what you're doing is great, no one else is doing it, don't ever stop."

*****

The MACC's "Solo Sessions" series features Jeff Peterson on Friday in the McCoy Studio Theater. A multi-Na Hoku Award-winner, Jeff recently received two Grammy nominations for his latest CD, "Maui on My Mind," and for his collaboration with Amy Hanaiali'i on the album "Amy Hanaiali'i and Slack Key Masters of Hawaii."

An innovative exponent of Hawaiian slack key guitar, Jeff was trained as a classical musician and is fluent in a variety of musical styles. The solo setting provides a venue for him to express a spectrum of his talent.

"I thought it would be a really good opportunity for me to play a wide of variety of music, so I definitely will be playing slack key and Hawaiian music, but also music from around the world," he explains. "I was recently in southeast Asia so I'll play some music inspired by this trip, and some South American music, dance music from Spain and some classical. And I'll talk about the background and stories behind songs."

A featured player at the annual Ki Ho'alu Festival, Jeff has performed with the Honolulu Symphony and Hawaii Opera Theater. His recordings include the instrumental albums "Maui Morning" and "Bamboo Slack Key" with shakuhachi master Riley Lee, and the solo works "Kahealani" and "Pure Slack Key." Jeff was honored with Hoku Awards in 2008 and 2009 for Instrumental Album of the Year.

Last year he contributed music to a new Hollywood feature film "The Descendants," starring George Clooney. Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, Clooney plays a wealthy Honolulu attorney, and great-grandson of a Hawaiian princess who married a prominent white banker.

Director Alexander Payne of "Sideways" fame has committed to only using Hawaiian music, both traditional and contemporary, as the soundtrack. University of Hawaii ethnomusicologist Jay Junker served as the movie's music consultant.

"This is going to be the first major Hollywood film to exclusively feature Hawaiian music," Jeff reports. "I have five pieces in the film. They actually let me do some on-the-spot scoring, reacting to viewing scenes in the film for the first time and composing as I saw them. I think it's rare for a Hollywood film to allow that."

With a provisional November release, a number of Hawaii artists will be heard on the soundtrack, including Gabby Pahinui, Keola Beamer, Dennis Kamakahi and Makana. "There is a lot of slack key and falsetto and steel guitar," Jeff continues. "I'm going to the Grammy Awards (on Feb. 13), and I'll be going to see them edit the film in Hollywood."

Jeff Peterson plays the "Solo Sessions" series at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the McCoy Studio Theater. Tickets are $25 and $45 VIP with artist meet-and-greet (plus applicable fees) available as above.

*****

Celebrated pianist Christopher O'Riley, host of NPR's "From the Top program," will perform in concert with New York Philharmonic principal cellist Carter Brey at 7:30 tonight in Castle Theater. Their program will include works by Bach and Grieg.

Performing duo recitals for over a decade, O'Riley and Brey have released a tribute to Argentinian dance music, "Le Grand Tango."

Besides his traditional classical repertoire, O'Riley is acclaimed for his classical interpretations of the music of alt-rockers Radiohead and British folk artist Nick Drake.

Tickets are $12, $28, and $35 (plus applicable fees), available as above.

*****

And here's some more Elton - the Top 10 Reasons why Elton John's overlooked double album "Blues Moves" is his equivalent of "The Beatles" ("White Album").

10. It's his most ambitious, adventurous, stylistically diverse work.

9. "I just love the album," Elton once said. "We had tried to change with every album, but 'Blue Moves' was the most drastic."

8. "Cage the Songbird," a tribute to French legend Edith Piaf, includes gorgeous harmonies by David Crosby and Graham Nash.

7. It includes his most Beach Boys-sounding tune, "Chameleon," which he offered to the band (they turned it down), but some members contributed backing vocals.

6. Davey Johnstone plays sitar on the Eastern-flavored "The Wide-Eyed and Laughing," and dulcimer on "Songbird."

5. Elton unleashes his prog rock/jazz fusion persona with the instrumental "Out of the Blue."

4. The melancholy classic "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word."

3. The funky/gospel groove of "Boogie Pilgrim," with jazz legends the Brecker Brothers on horns, plus David Sanborn.

2. The eight-minute masterpiece "Tonight" with the London Symphony Orchestra recorded at Abbey Road.

1. Elton's coolest rave-up "Bite Your Lip (Get Up And Dance)," that closes the album, with backing vocals by the Cornerstone Institutional Baptist Choir.