Interview with Ray Benson of Asleep At The Wheel

How old were you when you started playing?

Nine years old.  I picked up the guitar when I was nine. 

And you played the Robin Hood Dell when you were ten or 11?

I guess it would be ten, almost 11, yeah ten years old. 

In the liner notes you say you wrote these songs over a ten year period, was this a conscious effort to take your music in a different direction?

No man, you know it was sort of like you know the deal, you’re just sitting there writing and this is what came out.  So it was just that creative process. 

Was there a point when you realized you had enough material for an album and it was going to be something different?

Well, it started with the song “A Little Piece,” and that was like a six-year journey.  I started it and Michelle said, “You gotta finish this song, it’s really amazing.”  I went okay.  And so what I did was b…