Exclusive: Ray Benson Talks Bridging the Gap Between Texas and Jamaica on His New Album ‘Swingin’ and Skankin’

Ray Benson has fronted the legendary Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel for more than fifty years. However, he has never been afraid to step outside the box nor has he walked away from a musical challenge. As a result, when legendary producer Dr. Dread invited him to come to Kingston, Jamaica to cut a reggae album, he hopped on a plane. The result of that musical exploration, Swingin’ and Skankin’, dropped this week.

Ahead of the release of Swingin’ and Skankin’, Benson sat down with American Songwriter to talk about the album, his love of reggae music, and more.

[RELATED: Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson Announces New Reggae Album “Swingin’ and Skankin’” with Lead Single “Put It On” [Exclusive]]

Ray Benson Finds Common Ground

Benson bridged the gap between Western swing and Reggae—Austin, Texas and Kingston, Jamaica—with this collection. Former Asleep at the Wheel member and longtime Bob Dylan bassist Tony Garnier played on the album. Willie Nelson plays on the cover of “On the Road Again.” The album also features legendary Jamaican musicians Sly Dunbar (drums), Dwight Pinkney (guitar), and Robbie Lyn (keyboard).

“I always approach music of different kinds as dialects. It’s just like a dialect. If you want to speak with an English accent or a Southern accent, they all have the same words but different inflection,” Ray Benson said of bridging the musical gap. “The music is so rhythmic in terms of singing, you just fall right into the rhythm of it, if you’re listening. So, to me, it was just like falling off a log. Just follow the groove. It made a lot of sense.”

Benson wanted to get into the spirit of the music. At the same time, he wanted to make the songs his own. “I sing the way I sing but I change my style whether it’s straight Country Western or Western swing or boogie-woogie. You follow the rhythmic pattern, that’s what you do,” he explained. “I didn’t want to do like Sting and try to imitate a Jamaican accent or patois. Sting made a career of it and The Police were incredible but I just thought that was not the way to go,” he added.

Getting Willie Nelson on the Album

Ray Benson said it was easy to get Willie Nelson to add guitar to the reggae cover of his classic “On the Road Again.”

“I sent it over to him. He was isolating so I couldn’t go to the studio. I said, ‘Hey, you’ve played this 100 times. How about it?’ He said, ‘Sounds great.’ He loved the cut. I told him to play a solo and a little outro and it was great,” Benson recalled.

“I co-produced a cut of Willie and Toots Hibbert from the Maytals a number of years ago. He did a reggae album but he did it in L.A. with a bunch of session players. It was a good record but I wanted to be in Jamaica to do mine. I love reggae music. I’ve been going to Jamaica for—45 years ago was my first trip. I just really enjoy it and know a lot of the guys.”

Ray Benson’s Favorite Song on the Album

“I really like ‘Route 66’ because I feel like the groove is just irresistible,” Benson said. “Toots and the Maytals did ‘Take Me Home Country Roads’ and it was a big hit. It was like, ‘Wow you can take any song and put the reggae or ska treatment to it.’ And that’s what we did with ‘Route 66’ and I think it worked really well,” he added.

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