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Description
Bob Wills Texas Playboys Starring Jason Roberts
The finest original Western Swing music you can possibly hope for.
This two-time Grammy winner and his band were hand-picked by the Wills estate. He portrayed Bob Wills in the touring musical-theatre production, “A Ride With Bob.”
When Jason Roberts steps onto the stage with his fiddle, and utters his first “ah-ha” of the evening, Western Swing fans know they're experiencing the living embodiment of the Bob Wills tradition. Roberts’ vocals, instrumentals and stage presence are as close as you can get.
For most of his life, Roberts has delighted audiences with his vocals and fiddle magic. Coming from a performing family, his childhood was spent in Texas honky-tonks. He was acclaimed as a child prodigy by the age of twelve when he fronted a family band.
By the time he was 15, Roberts had played with many greats including Johnny Gimble, Leon Rausch, Asleep At The Wheel, and members of Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys.
The legendary Johnny Gimble took notice of Roberts and became his mentor. Jason has said, “Every good lick I know, I stole from Johnny Gimble!”
When Roberts was 16, Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel came knocking. Since Roberts was not old enough to get into many venues the Wheel played, they waited until Roberts’ 18th birthday to start their 20-year run together.
While he was with the Wheel, Roberts performed and recorded with Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Johnny Gimble, Leon Rausch, Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, and many other greats.
He paused work with the band briefly in 2006 to play with Van Morrison for a 14-show nationwide tour.
In 2007, Roberts had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part in the “Last of the Breed” tour with Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Ray Price, and the Wheel.
Two years later, Austin City Limits featured a new show, “Willie and the Wheel” to kick off the show’s 35th Anniversary. The album of the same name earned a Grammy nomination for Roberts.
He portrayed Bob Wills in the musical theatre production “A Ride With Bob.” Produced by Ray Benson of Asleep At The Wheel, the show toured the country for eight years.
After the tour ended, The Bob Wills Estate recruited Roberts to permanently lead the Texas Playboys band. He became known as “the new Bob Wills.”
Two Grammy Awards and four Hall of Fame inductions later, Roberts still tours the world with the Texas Playboys. From the White House to The David Letterman Show and the Kennedy Center, they have helped keep the spirit of Western Swing alive.
The baton has been passed and the Bob Wills sound continues, delighting old fans and making new ones across generations.
Venue Details
The Barnhill Center - Hasskarl Auditorium
111 West Main StreetBrenham, Texas 77833
The Barnhill Center
Built-in 1925, in the grand architectural style of Beaux-Arts Classical Revival, the Simon Theatre provided a splendid setting for many theatrical performances, film screenings and ballroom dances. The James Simon family commissioned Houston architect Alfred C. Finn, whose career included designing a number of prominent Houston buildings as well as the San Jacinto Monument, to design the theatre for the community of Brenham. Today, after a meticulous million-plus dollar renovation, the glamour and grand style lives on for future generations in the newly named Barnhill Center at Historic Simon Theatre.