Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson Talks Texas, Touring and his pal Willie Nelson.

Asleep at the Wheel is expected to bid adieu to the road. The nine-time Grammy award-winning Western swing band from the Lone Star State has embarked on a lengthy three-year tour that will wrap up in 2026.

“Putting the eight-piece band on the road will eventually be one-offs here and there,” explains founding member Ray Benson, who has spent five decades traveling on a bus.

The Baritone singer says that Asleep at the Wheel will be hitting the studio to record. “We’re gonna do an album of all Texas songs. There will be some western swing and some country and western also.”

Benson, who turned seventy-three last March, assures his fans that his decision to stop touring wasn't due to health or burnout.

“Just the traveling aspect, which includes the regulations, the department of transportation- it’s just totally different from it was. I had to have a full-time office staff just to keep up with the paperwork.”

“Expect the music to be the reward,” says Benson when advising those who are looking to make a career out on the road. “That’s how it was when I was young. Back then, it was jump in a van, get out there and do it!”

Benson gives a word to the wise. “Don’t expect any money till you have success of a certain level. Do it because you have to. It’s the only thing that makes you happy, and it’s the only thing you’re good at. I tell this to a lot of young musicians. You’re gonna hit thirty-one or thirty-two years old, and either you’re going to be satisfied with what you’re doing, or you’re going to say, ‘I can’t keep doing this, I want a house, I want a family, I want cars!’” He laughs.

As a band leader for over half a century, Benson has a list of things he looks for in a musician wanting to join his band.

“I want them to be proficient on their instrument and have the ability to improvise,” explains the tall Texan. “All of our solos are improvised. The main thing is, can you jam?”

One of the perks of his years traveling is the friends he has made, which includes fellow Texan Willie Nelson.

Benson, who formed the band in Paw Paw, West Virginia, says Willie talked him into moving to Austin.

“Asleep at the Wheel moved down [to Austin] in ‘73 and started playing shows with Willie, Doug Sahm, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Michael Murphy. It was wonderful!”

Benson recalls when Willie and Kris Kristofferson almost canceled their performances on his behalf.

“We were in Nashville doing a CBS television special that featured Willie, Kris, The Gatlin Brothers, and Johnny Cash,” Benson says. CBS wanted to drop Asleep at the Wheel from the show to make room for the first lady.

“The studio told us Mrs. Reagan is going to do a ‘say-no-to-drugs’ speech. I went on the bus with Willie and Kris and told them, ‘Hey guys, they just bumped us from the show, so I’m going home.’

But according to Benson, Willie and Kris wouldn’t have it. “They said, ‘If you’re going, then we’re going!’ When the studio heard that we were all leaving, they decided to let us play.”

Benson says the band’s break came during a Rolling Stone interview with R&B singing legend Van Morrison.

“We were only around for two years and Van Morrison hears us and invites us to play shows with him-- then mentions us in a Rolling Stone magazine! All of a sudden, all these record companies wanted to make a record with us. Van was the impetus for us getting a record deal.”

Besides playing music, Benson has also enjoyed acting over the years. He remembers the phone call from Dolly Parton that led to him co-starring with The Queen of Country in the movie Wild Texas Wind.

“We were doing the Tonight Show, and I’m in the green room, and they say, ‘You got a call from Dolly Parton.’ I didn’t know Dolly! She said, ‘I think you’re great and love your music. Do you want to do a movie?’ That’s how that all went down!”

Benson, whose long career includes acting, driving buses, singing in Budweiser commercials and playing shows with Alice Cooper, insists that he could continue playing music forever.

“The only thing that will stop me is health. I used to say ole’ Willie Nelson is my canary in the mine,” adding, “We still text something to each other every week. He’s just an incredible force of nature! That’s what I hope to be doing: playing ‘til I just can’t play no more.”