Calling all Sweethearts! Al Dressen’s Super Swing Revue is tuning up for their Feb. 12 appearance at the Wimberley Community Center. Hailed as the best country and western swing dance band in Texas, the Revue played its first gig at the Broken Spoke in July 1982. Bandleader and vocalist Al Dressen, who was inducted into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame in 2009, says “This is Western Swing like it’s supposed to sound.” Designated as the official musical style of Texas, the genre is a fusion of many styles.
“Our band members, both past and present, helped developed a sound that few can match,” says Dressen. “Each musician is a great player of different musical styles like country, swing, jazz, blues, cowboy or western, Latin, Cajun, gospel, and Dixie.” For six years, five of the band’s musicians were members of Bob Will’s Texas Playboys.
The Revue today is made up of musicians Paul Glasseon on mandolin (also a founding member), Denny Mathis on steel guitar, Wes Starr and Neal Clausnitzer on drums, and pianist Danny Levin, all Western Swing Hall of Fame members. Other Western Swing greats in the band include award-winning fiddler and vocalist Ricky Turpin, guitarist and vocalist Lonnie Atkinson, bass guitarist and vocalist Billy Dee, fiddler and vocalist Katie Holmes, as well as Mark Kazanoff on sax, and Ronnie Stewart on rhythm guitar.
The dance is one of the many Spring Events presented by the Wimberley Community Civic Club and is BYOB, with mixers available. Tickets are $35 per person and available at wimberleyccc.org.
In January, the Wimberley Civic Club kicked off nearly 50 Spring Events with classes, dinners, and day trips designed for a wide range of interests. The proceeds of these and all Civic Club events go directly back to the community in grants to area non-profits and scholarships.
