We Texans love to list the many things we proudly claim: yellow roses and bluebonnets, Shiner Bock and Lone Star beer, the nation's best brisket and greatest tacos, and Willie Nelson and Beyoncé.
We love our historical sites a great deal as well. Not too far below significant spots of Lone Star pride like the Alamo are many of our state's longstanding, still-thriving dance halls and live music joints. And when it comes to keeping this spirit of the classic Texas dance hall alive, there's not a more passionate, let alone better-sounding, advocate than western swing icons Asleep at the Wheel.
The Ray Benson-led crew will again bring its Texas Dance Hall Tour to Dallas-Fort Worth June 13-16, with four nights of performances to be held in four different area dance halls. While Asleep at the Wheel, active for almost 50 years now, is the presenting group, they will perform only on the 13th, at Sons of Hermann Hall in Dallas, and on June 16, at the Longhorn Ballroom, also in Dallas.
For this annual whirlwind weekend, the band is partnering with Texas Dance Hall Preservation, a non-profit organization "committed to saving historic Texas dance halls and the authentic music and culture that is still found in them," their website states.
Other Texas swing-intensive acts will get in on the fun too, including "hot jazz" trio Hot Club of Cowtown and Austin-based swing trio Big Cedar Fever at the National Hall in Fort Worth on June 14, followed with performances by Grammy-winning fiddle player Jason Roberts and local outlaw-style country singer Summer Dean at Cowtown's legendary Stagecoach Ballroom on June 15.
Three- and four-day packages, as well as a limited amount of general admission tickets for the Friday and Saturday concerts, are available at texasdancehall.org.