And he was influenced by “swing” music—an offshoot of jazz that was sweeping the nation in the 1930s.

At 2 p.m. a documentary, “The Birth & History of Western Swing,” will show at the Constantine Theater. That evening, at 7:30, Oklahoma Swing will perform at the fairgrounds. The festival ...

In 1970, singer and guitarist Ray Benson formed Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel while farmsitting in the tiny town of Paw Paw, West Virginia – a stretch, both physically and conceptually ...