When Asleep at the Wheel performs at Liberty Hall next week, you can expect a tribute to the late, great Tyler native Johnny Gimble.

As a child, Gimble performed with his brothers as the Rose City Swingsters. He later had his own bands and performed live on radio shows. Influenced by jazz, swing and syncopated rhythms, Gimble brought more of an improvisational, freewheeling style to country music.

In 1948, Gimble joined Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. His feisty fiddle playing became one of the band’s – and Western swing music’s – signature sounds.

Gimble is widely hailed as one of the greatest country music fiddle players who ever lived. As a studio musician, he performed with the biggest country music stars of his day including Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, George Strait, Dolly Parton, Vince Gill and Carrie Underwood.

Gimble won numerous country music musician of the year awards and two Grammy awards for his work with Asleep at the Wheel. You can hear Gimble’s influence in just about any song Asleep at the Wheel performs.

Gimble died last year at his home near Austin.

Paying tribute to Gimble in his hometown “will happen,” said Ray Benson, Asleep at the Wheel’s lead singer. “That’s on the agenda.”

The biggest tribute to Gimble however, will be found on stage in the form of the band’s newest member, vocalist and keyboard player, Emily Gimble, Johnny Gimble’s granddaughter. She joined Asleep at the Wheel in the summer of 2014.

“Her grandfather Johnny has been our musical guide and inspiration for over 40 years, and her father Dick is a trusted friend,” Benson said in announcing that Ms. Gimble had joined his band.

“Despite her youth, Emily is already an accomplished piano player and singer, so I can’t think of a better person to extend the legacy of Western swing music and this band.”