As one of the longest-running music festivals in American history, Austin City Limits celebrated another successful year in Zilker Park. A destination for music fans from around the world, this year’s festivities were arguably the biggest to date. The first day featured some of the biggest names in music, celebrated the industry’s newest voices, and offered everything in between over the course of the weekend.

In the fifty-plus years that Ray Benson has fronted the nine-time Grammy Award-winning, Western Swing road warriors, Asleep At The Wheel, he has never shied away from a musical challenge. So, when invited by producer Doctor Dread of RAS Records fame to come to Kingston, Jamaica, to record an album of his music with some of the island’s top studio musicians, Benson was all in.

Stevie Van Zandt’s Renegade Circus and Sixthman, the leader in festivals and music cruises for more than two decades, have announced Outlaw Country Cruise 9, sailing February 22-28, 2025 from Miami, FL to Nassau, Bahamas and St. Thomas (USVI) aboard Norwegian Gem. First Round Pre-sale Signups are available now through March 10 at 11:59 pm (ET). Final Round Pre-sale Signups will conclude March 13 at 11:59 pm (ET).

Known for delivering a unique brand of psychedelic soul and rock-tinged Americana, Bay Area collective Moonalice ushers in the 4/20 holiday with a smokin’ version of  “Am I High?,” the cult stoner singalong anthem from 10x-Grammy-winning Asleep at the Wheel. Asleep at the Wheel’s founder and vocalist Ray Benson joins Moonalice on their new version, singing the song’s bridge and harmonizing in unison with the T Sisters.

Akron, OH country-roots group The Shootouts will make their debut performance on the Grand Ole Opry on February 24. The rite of passage showcase comes on the same date as the release of their third full-length album Stampede (via Soundly Music) - PRELINK.

Hot on the heels of their announcement regarding the re-opening of Dallas’s famed Longhorn Ballroom, the team behind the venue, Kessler Presents, is already scheduling top tier programming. Today, the performers were announced for the Longhorn’s soft launch period beginning at the end of March and continuing into April, wasting no time adding new names to the legendary list of musicians who’ve already stepped foot on this stage—not to mention inviting some of them back.

Huge congrats to Asleep at the Wheel for their GRAMMY nomination for “Best Americana Performance” for their track “There You Go Again” featuring Lyle Lovett!

I remember watching Asleep at the Wheel’s “Hot Rod Lincoln” on CMT with my Dad, back in the Eighties. Thirty plus years later, I had the rare treat of watching this ten-time Grammy winning band perform it live at the Boulder Theater. No need to rely on big stage glam or overcompensating back-up singers, Ray Benson sounded as robust as ever! His deep voice reverberated throughout the room, perfectly complemented by the rest of the band.

Fifty years ago, Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson wrote in his journal that he wanted to form a band to bring the roots of American pop music into the present. It seemed like an ambitious goal for a 19-year-old, yet Benson has done exactly that – traversing the globe as an ambassador of Western swing music and introducing its irresistible sound to generation after generation. Although the lineup has changed countless times since its inception, Benson’s mission has never wavered.

Tanya Tucker, Del McCoury Band, and Asleep at the Wheel are among the second round of lineup additions headlining the 2022 Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival, which takes place Sept. 9-11 in Historic Downtown Bristol, Virginia-Tennessee. Willie Watson, Nicki Bluhm and Miko Marks are also part of the latest rollout of artists announced today.