The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 93

Movies GrMore mmmmmmmmmt IBP jHE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN MAY 7, 2000 Asleep at the Wheel awakening Recalling victorious matchups During its 30-year history. Asleep at the Wheel has won eight Grammys. Band attracts new fans to Western swing music THE April edition of OK-Texas weekend took place Saturday arid Sunday: Instead of gridiron action, it was gridlock inaction as I headed to Dallas April 29 for the matchup. The question was this: Could I buck Texas traffic and outrun the screening schedules of three theaters tp 'see six films in 36 hours? I may be an amateur when it comes to sal By Dave Ferman Fort Worth Star-Telegram ABILENE, Texas To appreciate the slice of fame Asleep at the Wheel has carved for itself, it's a good idea to be standing here as the sun goes down and the band sequestered in its big, comfy tour bus prepares to take the ary, but I'm a pro at the game itself. I knew that if we kept our stage.

A rock band that had been around 30 years and won eight Grammys (including two in February) would probably be preparing to play Dallas' Starplex or Reunion Arena. There would be legions of fans hoping for a glimpse, a lavish backstage buffet and so on. The Wheel, though, can look forward to none of this. A gig is a gig is a gig, and this one eyes on the prize, stayed with our game plan and avoided Reel Time the big mistakes, we could take them. KATHRYN -JENSON WHITE is headlining the Celebrate Abilene! festival: one stage, a few booths, the locals sitting at rows of tables chomping on big plates of steak.

Asleep at the Wheel is the most famous Western swing band working. Last year's "Ride With Bob," a tribute to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, has become its biggest record. And in February, the CD's leadoff track, "Bob's Breakdowns," won the Grammy Award for country instrumental of the year. Asleep just finished opening several dates for Bob Dylan in the Northwest, at Dylan's request. And this summer, the band will play stadiums, opening for big fan George Strait.

Yet here it is: no buffet, no adoring fans at the backstage gate and only a too-small, windblown stage, congealing food in takeout boxes and a long drive back to Austin after the show. Such is mega-success, Western swing-style. There is, however, no complaining by the group's founder, Ray Benson; as he sits on the bus and warms up on guitar. A large man with a voice and hands to match, Benson is the band's mouthpiece, lead singer, guitarist and mastermind. He's the guy who thought of teaming Asleep with 20 country and pop stars, from Merle Haggard to Don Walser to the Squirrel Nut Zippers, and in the process did for his band what "Supernatural" did for Santana.

Now, he's searching for a guitar tuner. "Hey, it's all show business," he said, limbering up with some jazz riffs. "Up and down, up and down, or else up and down and you're out. We got into this to play music and bring back older music that's been forgotten, and I think we're doing that." Benson is taking success in stride probably because he's seen so many years when Asleep at the Wheel was a cult act, loved by hard-core Western swing fans and unknown to everybody else. Benson and his band steel guitarist Cindy Cash-dollar, fiddler Jason Roberts, bassist David Miller, drummer David Sanger, 20-year member Michael Francis on saxophone and newest member John Michael Whitby on piano may never be able to change.

But there's no question that by fusing old tunes with young hotshots such as the Dixie Chicks and established stars such as Haggard, Willie and Reba Mc-Entire, Asleep is introducing Western swing to a new audience and rejuvenating longtime fans. To Benson, this just makes sense. He grew up with country music before falling under the spell of Wills (as well as Count Basie and Big Joe Turner) as a teen. He formed Asleep at the Wheel in 1970 in Virginia and, three years later, moved to Austin. The third album, 1975s "Texas Gold," broke the band to a national audience with a mix of standards such as "Trouble Mind" and originals such as "Bump Bounce Boogie." But five years later, bad times arrived.

Slick country-pop took over, and from 1981 to 1984, the band didn't have a label. Those were lean years. People would ask Benson whether the group had broken up, even while he was doing 120 or so (mainly low-profile) gigs per year and wondering when, or if, he'd get another shot. In Texas, though, Asleep at the Wheel was (and still is) a major country act. It influences numerous musicians, not just for the music but because it has shown real staying power as the winds of country taste have blown this way and that.

"Ray is like our uncle in the country music business," Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines said. "He's taught us so much about the business." Lee Ann Womack, who grew up going to Asleep gigs west Texas, said the band is "just so good at what they do. That's why they're so important. They've never changed what they do they stand for something." Epic gave the band its second shot with 1987's "Asleep at the Wheel 10," which scored via two hits, "House of Blue Lights." and "Way Down Texas Way." "String of Pearls" won the Grammy for best country instrumental performance. In 1993, the group released "A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills the Texas Playboys." The blueprint for "Ride With Bob," it featured contributions from Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Dolly Par-ton and Strait, among others.

And five years later, Ben--son picked up the telephone and told DreamWorks' general manager and head of label operations, Wayne Halper, that he wanted to do it again. Two months after the Grammys, Benson plays down comparisons to Santana and how recruiting young blood was instrumental in "Supernatural" selling 11 million copies and counting. "I just think, 'God, I wish I could sell as many records as he Benson said of Santana. "We both play guitar, we both wear a hat, we've both been around 30 years. We both play the same 12 notes just a little different.

And we're both still around." NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE Triumphant at the final score of Oklahoma 6, Texas 0 assistant coach Carolyn Cole and I traveled back up Interstate 35 in blinding rain and hail, aglow with our victory. Live on, Universal. Once again Oklahoma is Screenplay by screenplay of "'the big game it. "The Life and Times of Hank This film takes us to the diamond that is baseball and the coal that is anti-Semitism. Aviva Kempner's documentary makes brilliant use of archival footage and clips from feature films to show us the dignity and determination of Greenberg facing prejudice pre-Jackie Robinson.

Tjhis wonderful film is about America as much as America's pastime. "Me, Myself, Writer-director Philippa Karmel plays out a what-if fantasy here, a la "Peggy Sue Got Married" and "Sliding Doors." Rachel Griffiths is good as the woman who steps into what her life Would have been had she rparried the one who got ajway. A complex look at wanting what we get and getting what we want. "The Last Director Deborah Warner uses to full advantage the wonderful Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon to tell the story of British colonialism. The country is Ireland, and the IRA wants the Brits oit; the Brits are having none of it.

A cross-class cross-clash romance lies at the center of this film. Not a barnburner, but worth seeing for Fiona Shaw's wonderful performance. "Cotton Ismail Merchant, who usually produces while partner James Ivqjcy directs, helms this filfifc Like "The Last Septem-berj' it probes the ugly recesses of colonialism. The country this time is India. Relying heavily on allegory, has all the trappings of a morality play.

Madhur Jaffrey delivers a rather odd but interesting performance as the Indian wlfiS, would be British. Grtta Scacchi is a Brit with a bit of a conscience, but not much. "East is Director Damien O'Donnell scores a hit with this quite funny but sofeewhat disturbing look at a Pakistani man wonderfully played by the talented Om Puri fighting to preserve his culture and personal identity married to a British wife (Linda Bassett) and father to seven children who want to pack in being Paki and be Brits. Many jokes, much sadness. I felt AP PHOTO Ray Benson, lower right, founder and leader of the band Asleep at the Wheel.

"It was Texas, and it was Willie," he said. "Willie said, 'Hey, you need to be down and boom, here we were." Most likely, Benson never regretted the decision: Gigs in Austin were plentiful, and the band arrived just as the outlaw-country movement took over and changed the face of country music. Actress truly 'Committed' to first leading film role since high school and has toughed it out with all the tenacity of her character in "Com' mitted," a new film that provides her flrsl lead role. Until 1997, she had largely supporting roles in smallish films including "Drugstore Cow boy," "Swingers" and "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle." That abruptly changed with Graham's dar ing performance as X-rated actress Rollergir in "Boogie Nights," director Paul Thomas Anderson's ensemble drama about the porr industry.

While the supporting roles have continued Graham has gone commercial with sucl movies as "Lost in Space," "Bowfinger" ant "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged She also had a small part in the horror hi "Scream 2." The commercial prospects of "Committed' By David Germain Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES For all her gorgeous blond looks and those big, baby-blue eyes, Heather Graham's road trip to stardom has had its share of speed bumps. She had to turn down a role as the Heather who gets whacked in the sharp high school satire "Heathers" because her parents didn't like the movie. She joined "Twin Peaks" as Kyle MacLach-lan's love interest a few episodes before the short-lived TV series was canceled. Then there was the heartbreaking casting call when Graham was 9 and landed the part of Dorothy in a school play. "They had these Toto tryouts, and I really wanted my toy dog to get in," Graham said.

"But someone else had this toy dog that like, barked a mechanical toy dog and they picked that one. I was very sad my dog didn't get in." Graham, 30, has been acting professionally Actress Heather Graham, 30, has been acting professionally since she was in high school and, despite some of pitfalls, has toughed it out with all the intensity of her character in the new film "Committed," which provides her first leading role. See REEL, Page 6 See GRAHAM, Page 6 1U-.