Learn How Ray Benson Is Still Creating Opportunities for Austin Musicians After 50 Years

Ray Benson may have been raised in Pennsylvania, but he says, “I felt at home the minute we got here” when he first visited Austin with his band in 1972.

That band is, of course, the now-legendary Asleep at the Wheel. They initially formed on a farm in West Virginia playing a style of music called Western swing that evolved out of the traditions of honky tonk and jazz. However, the genre had waned in popularity in the decades leading up to their first performance at Austin’s famed Armadillo World Headquarters. The public consensus on Western swing quickly changed after that. “We were playing Texas music, so we were welcomed with open arms from both the hippie community of Armadillo and the older folks who remembered Bob Wills and this music that had been gone from the landscape since the ‘50s.”

After winning nine Grammy Awards as a group, Benson now thinks of Asleep at the Wheel as more of a concept than a musical act. His idea seems to be that, by spending five decades building a gargantuan roster of rotating musicians, he can not only preserve his musical tradition but continue to breathe life into it. 

Creating access for artists in Austin

Since the early ‘90s, Benson’s been running his own studio, Bismeaux Records. Originally located in South Austin, he now operates out of a gorgeous retrofitted barn on his property filled with state-of-the-art recording equipment. “Elvis sang through that board along with Dolly Parton and everybody on RCA Records.” Thanks to him, that same board has now recorded musicians like Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson and, most recently, his cousin Marc Copland, a renowned jazz pianist he released an album with in August.  

As he grew his roots in Texas, Ray Benson also chose to give his time to local charities, notably serving as the chairman of the SIMS Foundation to provide mental health resources to musicians and co-founding the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), where his iconic “Birthday Bash” serves as the organization’s annual fundraiser. Even though this was Benson’s final year headlining the event, HAAM reports that it has ultimately contributed over $2.5 million toward their mission of providing healthcare for working musicians in our city.

1

3

Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel. (Photo by John Pesina Photography)

2

3

Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel. (Photo by John Pesina Photography)

3

3

Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel. (Photo by John Pesina Photography)

Inviting new generations into a legacy

These projects (and so many others) keep Ray Benson busy, but his largest contribution to musicians might still be Asleep at the Wheel. As the band’s sole consistent member, he’s regularly adding new artists to the lineup. Recruiting isn’t easy, though, because performing Western swing requires a level of skill and creativity that takes time to develop. “When I was starting the band,” Benson explains, “there weren’t guys in their ‘20s who could play this music.”

Over the years, joining Asleep at the Wheel has almost become a rite of passage for musicians, one that includes collaborating with other artists at the top of their game, performing headliner slots at gigs like ACL Music Festival and recording albums through that legendary mixing board at Bismeaux.

When thinking about the future, Ray Benson posits that the thing in Austin he’d like to preserve most is its reputation as a haven for performers. “Sure, you want all the great touring acts to come through, but you also have to support the musicians that call this place home because you never know, of the dozens of musicians that play on, who’s going to be the next Stevie Ray Vaughan.”