Folks in Austin have been watching Asleep at the Wheel perform for nearly 50 years. | Photo by Chad Wadsworth
In its 23 years of history, ACL Festival has had one constant: Asleep at the Wheel.
If you’ve ever been to ACL Festival on the first Friday, you’ve probably heard Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel’s only remaining original member) and the band perform. They’ve opened up the festival every year since it began in 2002.
We met up with Benson during Weekend One to ask how he became ACL’s mainstay.
How do you feel about having played every ACL Festival?
“Well, it’s a great honor. When we started the festival, they were negotiating the deal, and things got a bit messy, and so I helped clean it up. So Charlie (Jones) said, ‘Alright, you’re going to open the festival up,’ because I did the first ‘Austin City Limits’ television show after Willie had done the pilot. We had no idea it was going to last this long and continue — it’s been wonderful.
Finding relief: Medical cannabis for chronic pain in Texas
Presented by Texas Cannabis Clinic
Many Texans with chronic pain are turning to medical cannabis for relief. | Photo provided by Texas Cannabis Clinic
Living with chronic pain? You’re not alone — over 20 million Americans experience it daily, and many turn to medical cannabis for relief. A recent poll found that 91% of consumers believe it’s effective for chronic pain.
In Texas, chronic pain now qualifies for medical cannabis under TCUP. Take the Texas Cannabis Clinic quiz to see if you qualify, and use code PAIN40 for $40 off your first appointment. †
Once this station opens, Capmetro will reevaluate the needs of its nearby Kramer Station. | Rendering via CapMetro
Civic
CapMetro will kick off construction on a new North Burnet/Uptown Station for the Red Line in November. The station will be situated on a 66-acre plot in Uptown ATX near The Domain, feature 200+ parking spots for park-and-ride access, and offer bus connections.
Arts
“Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan will house his creative archive at Texas State University, where he studied theater in the 1990s. The growing collection will be housed at the university’s Wittliff Collections, which is also home to the “King of the Hill” archives.
Number
$855 million. That’s how much Cedar Park-based aerospace company Firefly spent to acquire SciTec Inc., a defense tech company, in a deal announced over the weekend. Firefly representatives said the decision was made to boost capabilities and support the company’s growing defense projects. (Austin American-Statesman)
Festival
A host of bands + brands will come together to raise money for people facing cancer at the inaugural Flatwater Fest later this month. The Ransom Brothers, The Watters, and Nate Miller will supply the tunes on Sunday, Oct. 26 at Radio/East — grab tickets.
Ranked
Austin is the No. 1 “secondary city” poised to see significant growth in 2026, according to House Beautiful, thanks to its bustling tech, manufacturing + healthcare sectors. The Capital City was followed by places including Boise, Tampa, and Charleston.
Pets
Want to be the purr-fect human for your cat? Feline researcher Mikel Delgado Ph.D. will present a talk on how to make cats happy for UT Austin’s Hot Science – Cool Talks series this Friday, Oct. 10. The event is free with RSVP. (KXAN)
Sports
Last weekend was a great time to be an NFL fan in Texas, as both the Cowboys and the Texans took home a win. Get the biggest stories every day from the local experts of the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans with Locked On’s daily podcasts.
Health
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Read
Stay on the forefront of your industry with The Deep View — a free, five-minute-long newsletter covering everything you need to know about AI. Read it for free.*
The Buy
Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days sale ends today + this is your last call to score some of the site’s lowest prices of the year. Shop these deals before they’re gone tomorrow:
The fun doesn’t have to end here. After reading the newsletter, head over to our games page. Games refresh with new challenges every day at 6 a.m. from crossword puzzle to Sudoku to themed word search.
We asked you to suggest names for a new music venue
What would you name the new venue? | Renderings courtesy Works Progress
Last month, we asked what you would name the new music venue in the works at southeast Austin’s River Park development.
Y’all had some pretty good suggestions — here are our favorites.
Austin’s icons were the inspiration for submissions like Ladybird Theater, The Willie, Armadillo Heaven, and LM COW Amphitheater (which stands for Live Music Capital of the World).
A few more neat submissions include The Pehla (which the reader noted is the Tigua word for “happiness”), The Gathering, The Decibel, The Cave @ ATX, and All Around Sound.
Last but not least, readers have mixed opinions on calling the new venue anything involving “Moody.” Where one reader stood firmly against another Moody, another suggested “Moody East.”
If you weren’t able to secure a custom ACL 2025 bracelet (made by your favorite folks from ATXtoday with materials from local shop Sea of Beads), you still have another chance during ACL Weekend Two. Plus, click here to learn how we chose the beads + charms.
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