Bob Wills' Texas Playboys under the direction of Jason Roberts
Thursday, September 4, 2025
Doors: 6:50 pm • Showtime: 7:30 pm
BOB WILLS' TEXAS PLAYBOYS
When Texas Playboys front man 
Jason Roberts
 steps onto a stage with his fiddle 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 tradition that stretches all the way back to 1933. That was the year the charismatic fiddler 
Bob Wills
 
and several other musicians in a group called the 
Light Crust Doughboys
 broke away from Fort Worth's Burris Mills and its autocratic business manager, 
W. Lee “Pappy” O'Daniel
, to form their own band. As 
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
, they became one of the most popular touring and recording acts in the nation, offering audiences the highly danceable musical mixture that came to be known as western swing.
Following Bob's 1975 death, a group of ex-Playboys led by former Wills steel-guitarist 
Leon McAuliffe
 and hand-picked by McAuliffe and Bob's widow, Betty, came together to keep the Bob Wills sound alive. Those men made a promise to one another that when the first of their number died, they would disband – and, true to their word, the group dissolved in 1986, following the death of piano player 
“Brother” Al Stricklin
. Eventually, with the blessing of the Bob Wills estate, guitarist-producer 
Tommy Allsup
, a longtime Wills collaborator, and 
Leon Rausch
, the Playboys' last great vocalist, took over 
Bob Wills' Texas Playboys
. They continued squarely in the Wills style, delighting old fans and making new ones, until 2018, following the death of Allsup and the retirement of Rausch.
Today, the Bob Wills sound continues, as big and bright and brassy as ever. The newest 
Texas Playboys
 
aggregation is led by 
two-time Grammy winner
 Roberts, hand-picked by both the Wills estate and Leon Rausch, whose nearly two decades in the famed western-swing band 
Asleep at the Wheel
 includes an eight-year stint actually playing Bob Wills in the Wheel's nationally touring musical-theatre production, 
A RIDE WITH BOB
. And, like Bob's original band, this group of Playboys includes some of the best swing musicians both Oklahoma and Texas have to offer. The Okies include trombonist 
Steve Ham
, trumpeter 
Mike Bennett
, drummer 
Tony Ramsey
, and fiddler 
Shawn Howe
. The contingent from south of the Red River boasts piano player 
Wayne Glasson
, steel-guitarist 
Dave Biller
, saxophonist 
Larry Reed
, and bassist 
Albert Quaid
. Many of these top-notch players from both states have already done stints with the band's earlier incarnations.
Together, 
Bob Wills' Texas Playboys
 forge on through the 21st century, bringing a nostalgic glow to longtime Wills fans and the joy of discovery to those who might not have even been born when Bob died. Once again, the baton has been passed, and the hands that grasped it are crafting some of the finest examples of Bob Wills-style western swing anyone could ever want to hear.
Reserved Tickets:
Floor, first five rows, (rows A-E)…...…..$30
Remainder of floor, (rows F-M)……..$27.50
Standard Balcony…………….................$25
Balcony Box* 
(includes concessions)
….$60
* Box ticket holders pick up wristbands at ticket booth and present when ordering at concession stand.
Information Source: Cactus Theater | eventbrite

Lubbock County

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