The video above takes you on a driving tour through Bandera, Texas — a tiny Hill Country town about an hour northwest of San Antonio with a population under a thousand people. Despite its size, Bandera calls itself the Cowboy Capital of the World, a title it earned as a staging area for the last great cattle drives of the 1800s. The town was also a key stop along an old Texas Rangers trail connecting San Antonio and Kerrville. Today it still has working cowboys, national rodeo champions, dude ranches, horseback riding, and a historic Main Street lined with a few blocks of storefronts worth walking through — a cowboy store, a liquor shop called Spirits of Texas featuring Texas-made spirits, a historic general store, and a big Bandera County courthouse anchoring the area.
What Live Music Venues Are in Bandera, Texas?
For a town this small, the concentration of live music is genuinely surprising. Here's what the tour turned up:
- Arkey Blue's Silver Dollar — A legendary honky tonk located downstairs of the historic Bandera General Store, originally opening in the 1920s with its current incarnation dating to 1968. This is the place that inspired Robert Earl Keen's "Feeling Good Again."
- 11th Street Cowboy Bar — One of the biggest live music spots in Bandera, with a large stage and a big outdoor area that draws real crowds.
- The First National Ice House — A casual spot along Main Street that regularly advertises live music.
- Shotgun Sports Bar and Grill — A little further down the Main Street stretch, offering live music alongside food and drinks.
- Bandera Brewery — A short drive from Main Street, this brewery pairs local craft beer with live music.
- Monkey Cage Saloon — A saloon featuring regular live music in a laid-back setting.
- The Hen Nest — Another local spot contributing to Bandera's surprisingly deep music calendar.
- Brick's River Cafe — A riverside cafe that books live music acts.
- Wild Horse Saloon — Sits right next to the Red Horse, giving you two live music options side by side.
- The Red Horse — Adjacent to Wild Horse Saloon, also featuring live music regularly.
That's roughly ten live music venues for a town of fewer than a thousand people. You'd be hard-pressed to find that kind of density anywhere else in the Hill Country.
Exploring Bandera's Main Street and Beyond
The historic Main Street is a short walk — just a few blocks — but it's got character. You'll find gift shops, jewelry and silver knives, real estate offices, and the general store. For food, B Daddy's BBQ on Main came highly recommended by locals when the general store kitchen had already closed for the day. The town also has a Frontier Times Museum with American West artifacts and the Bandera Natural History Museum for anyone wanting to dig into the area's history. David Bridwell stopped through Bandera on his way to play a set at Cafe on the Ridge up in Kerrville, which gives you an idea of how well this area connects — Bandera, Kerrville, Boerne, and Comfort are all within easy driving distance of each other, making a Hill Country live music road trip very doable.