Since its inception in 1950 as Bob Wills’ Ranch House, the Longhorn Ballroom has been Texas’s premier destination for some of the best live music in the country. Over the last several years, the Longhorn Ballroom fell on hard times, eventually landing in bankruptcy and was headed for demolition. When entertainment entrepreneur Edwin Cabaniss and his team at Kessler Presents restored and reopened the Longhorn earlier this year, being good stewards of the legendary Longhorn by continuing its tradition of all-genres programming was top of mind.
Today’s announcement serves as a transition from the soft opening period of the first six months to a more robust regular programming and an overview of the Longhorn’s 2023’s fall and winter calendar, with a few put-on-your-calendar-now 2024 dates included. Kessler Presents, indie stalwarts long beloved for their other venues Kessler Theater also in Dallas and the Heights Theater in Houston, are nationally known for high touch hospitality to both artist and patrons with a we-live-here-too approach to booking. “Because of our experiences with Kessler Presents, we were certain that the live music patrons of North Texas would support a larger, independently owned and highly curated music venue,” says Cabaniss. “And in the six months we’ve been open, it’s proven true thanks in part to our talent buying team being deeply embedded in the local music culture.”
In addition to a full calendar of shows since the grand reopening in March, Kessler Presents and by extension, the Longhorn Ballroom, have taken the brand on the road making key stops at Under the Big Sky, Newport Folk Festival, and AmericanaFest for programming partnerships. Cabaniss went on to say, “We believe Texas Music is our state’s greatest ambassador of our hospitality and culture. We love to showcase our artists by giving them a platform at these tastemaking events.”
Speaking of the home state spotlighting, in May the venue unveiled the house band, the Longhorn Ballroom Players, made up of North Texas touring and studio musicians. The Players join a long tradition of revue-like shows just like Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and Dewey Groom and the Texas Longhorns did back in the day. However, it’s not just country music they perform, the players are well versed in the R&B discography of the venue as well. More info here.
All shows listed below are on-sale now at longhornballroom.com/tickets. For more information, please visit longhornballroom.com.
Upcoming shows:
Friday, October 6 - KXT 91.7 Presents The Walkmen with special guest Heavy Meddo
Saturday, October 7 - KXT 91.7 Presents Snarky Puppy with special guest Nate Wood - fOUR
Monday, October 9 - The Wallflowers
Tuesday, October 10 - Tab Benoit with Anthony Rosano & The Conqueroos
Friday, October 13 - John Mark McMillan with special guest Taylor Leonhardt
Saturday, October 14 - John Waters - End of the World
Tuesday, October 17 - Eric Andre
Friday, October 20 - Los Lonely Boys with special guest Lisa Morales
Thursday, October 26 - KXT 91.7 Presents Shakey Graves with special guest flipturn
Saturday, October 28 - The Mountain Goats with special guest Anna Tivel
Saturday, November 4 - Christopher Cross
Friday, November 17 - The Band of Heathens and Josh Weathers with special guest B.R. Lively
Wednesday, December 6 - Colter Wall with special guest Red Shahan*
Thursday, December 7 - Colter Wall with special guest Red Shahan*
Friday, December 8 - Marc Broussard
Sunday, December 10 - Samara Joy: A Joyful Holiday featuring The McLendon Family (Matinee)
Sunday, December 31 - Little Feat: Rollin' Into 2024 with special guest Miko Marks
Thursday, February 22 - An Evening with Yo La Tengo
Saturday, April 27 - Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors with special guest Donovan Woods
Tuesday, April 30 - Rhiannon Giddens
*sold out
