HECK OF A RIDE INDEED

Know what I love? I love it when you take a chance on something you know nothing about, and it turns out better than you could possibly hope. Especially when you've dragged a couple of other people into taking a chance on it with you!

Such was the case this week when I saw a little blurb in The Wimberley View, about how local shop owner Jill Jones was part of a show called A Ride With Bob: The Bob Wills Musical, which was wrapping up this year's tour with two performances in Austin this very weekend. Now, our Jill has a special talent that few people know about. She yodels. Award-winning, Texas swing style yodeling. I've been mighty curious ever since I heard about that. Furthermore, since this play was about Texas legend Bob (Ah-Hah!) Wills, and was co-written by another Texas legend - Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel - and he and his band would all be performing in it, well, my gut was telling me "Becky, get on that computer and get you some tickets!" So I did.

John was no problem. He's a longtime fan of Asleep at the Wheel. Poor Lex though, had never even heard of that band, or of Bob Wills, and thought music that involved yodeling could not possibly be a good thing, but if she got a free meal out of it, she was willing to give it a try. All we can say is, we feel sorry for the rest of you, who didn't rush out to see this while you had the chance. Now you have to wait for the 2011 tour to start, and pray that it comes to a town near you.

The thing I loved most about this show was not just that it was funny and entertaining and full of great music. It's the way Ray is using it to showcase the talents of other lesser-knowns, such as Wimberley's yodeling phenom, Ms. Jill Jones, young Ruby Jane Smith, Timothy Curry from Midland (his singing sent shivers up my spine), and a most amazing trio of sisters who can fiddle to beat the devil, while singing angelic Andrews-Sister-style harmonies. Take my word for it. You'd better keep your eye on The Quebe Sisters Band!

P.S. Many thanks to pegasusnews.com for the first two images, and to wholoblog.com for the one of the Quebe (pronounced kway-bee) sisters.