Floyd Domino brought
home his second Grammy Award in 2000 for his featured work with Asleep at the
Wheel. Floyd Domino has recorded and performed with Merle Haggard, George Strait,
The Texas Playboys, Waylon Jennings, jazz guitarist Herb Ellis, Kelly Willis,
Bruce Robison, Monte Warden, Don Walser and others. His boogie-woogie styling
is known to audiences around the world, and has even been heard in outer space
by way of George Strait's #1 hit, "Ace In The Hole", which was beamed
up to the crew of the space shuttle Columbia in a wake-up call. Floyd joined
Asleep at the Wheel at the age of 19, and was featured on their first Grammy
winning recording, Count Basie's One O'Clock Jump. Seven years and a million
miles later, he went to New York to play in the Broadway hit, Best Little Whorehouse
In Texas. Following that, he recorded and played five years with the Crickets
and Waylon Jennings. As a session pianist Floyd has played on several recordings,
including five albums with George Strait, and won two Grammys. His most recent
Grammy was awarded in February 2000 for Best Country Instrumental as a featured
performer with Tommy Allsup, Larry Franklin, Vince Gill and Steve Wariner on
the Asleep at the Wheel recording, Ride With Bob.
In 2002, Merle
Haggard's album, Two Old Friends, with Al Brumly, Jr was nominated for a Grammy
in the Gospel field. Besides playing piano on that, Floyd performed on Merle's
television special, For The Record, which was broadcast live from the Las
Vegas Hilton. In July 2002, Floyd won the Will Rogers Cowboy award from the
Academy of Western Artists for Western Swing Instrumentalist of the Year.
A native of California,
Floyd was introduced to Western Swing by way of the musicians who had migrated
from Texas and Oklahoma in the 30's and 40's. Through Asleep at the Wheel producer
Tommy Allsup and master fiddler Johnny Gimble he met Texas Playboy original
Al Stricklin. Al became Floyd's teacher. In 1986, on Al's 75th birthday, Floyd
was a special guest on Al Stricklin's live album recorded in Ft Worth. Floyd
has released six albums of his own. Among them are Hightower Boogie Woogie and
five others for children: Baby Road, The White Album, The Four Tots, Peggy Sue
with Buddy Holly's Original Crickets, and Sleepy In Seattle.
