Bob Wills' Texas Playboys Will Appear in Concert at the Spencer This Month

When Texas Playboys front man and fiddler Jason Roberts steps onto a stage and utters his first "AH-ha" of the evening, western swing fans know they're seeing and hearing nothing less than the living embodiment of a musical tradition that stretches all the way back to 1933. That was the year the charismatic fiddler Bob Wills (1905-1975) and several other musicians formed Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. History was made thereafter as their irresistible rhythms and 'Ah-ha' joy offered audiences a highly danceable musical mixture unlike any other. It was to be called western swing and Bob Wills was the king.

"Faded Love," "I Ain't Got Nobody," "St. Louis Blues," "A Maiden's Prayer," "I'm Tired Of Living This Lie," "Mexicali Rose," "Osage Stomp," "Sittin' On Top Of The World," "New San Antonio Rose"...a seemingly endless stream of hits rolled out and Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys became one of the most popular touring and recording big band acts in the nation, and during their peak, playing dances to more than 10,000 people a week.

Following Wills' passing in 1975, a group of ex-Playboys came together with the full blessing of the Bob Wills estate to keep the Bob Wills sound alive, continually packing dancehalls with swinging cowboys. Today's sound is true to trademark - as big and bright and brassy as ever! The current Texas Playboys aggregation is led by two-time Grammy winner Jason Roberts, admired by thousands for his many years with the multi award-winning swing band Asleep at the Wheel, including eight national tours actually performing as Bob Wills in the Wheel's touring musical-theatre production, "A RIDE WITH BOB."

Just like Wills' original band, this group of Playboys includes some of the best swing musicians Oklahoma and Texas have to offer. The band's Okies include trombonist Steve Ham, trumpeter Mike Bennett, drummer Tony Ramsey, and fiddler Shawn Howe. The Texas contingent boasts guitarist Rick McRae, a veteran of George Strait's Ace in the Hole Band, along with piano player Wayne Glasson, steel-guitarist Dave Biller, saxophonist Larry Reed, and bassist Albert Quaid.

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