The video above takes you on a ride through Joshua, Texas, a small town of about 8,000 people sitting roughly 30 minutes south of Fort Worth in Johnson County. If you've never had a reason to check out Joshua, this tour gives you a solid look at the Main Street area, the pace of life down there, and what's starting to happen with live music and entertainment in a community that has historically sent its residents up to Fort Worth for a night out.
Joshua sits between the towns of Burleson and Cleburne, and its history goes back to the late 1800s when farming — especially cotton and potatoes — drove the local economy. Trains were shipping produce out of town back then, and you can still catch trains rolling right through the Main Street area today. The town has grown as a Fort Worth suburb, with new communities of homes bringing in residents, but it has kept that scenic, slower feel you pick up immediately from the drive in.
What Live Music and Food Can You Find in Joshua, Texas?
For a long time, folks in Joshua had to head up to Fort Worth for entertainment. That's starting to change. The video highlights a few spots right along Main Street worth knowing about:
- Oh Why Not — A brand-new venue right on Main Street that was gearing up for its grand opening at the time of filming. It's set to host live music and events, giving Joshua residents a local option instead of always driving to Fort Worth.
- Brickhouse Grill — A spot on Main Street where the video creator grabbed some food. A straightforward local restaurant right in the middle of town.
- TexMex Cafe — Another Main Street restaurant mentioned as part of the small string of shops and eateries in the area.
The video also mentions that quite a few songwriters from the Fort Worth scene actually live in the Joshua area, which is what first put the town on the creator's radar while attending songwriter nights up in the city.
Joko Community Radio and the Banded Together Through Music Segment
Before heading into Joshua, the video features a stop at Joko Community Radio, where the creator performed live on Destiny Ray's Banded Together Through Music segment. The performance includes an original love song, followed by an easy conversation between the two about a funny encounter at Green Hall in Fort Worth where an older woman told the creator to "be open to love" after a show. It's a genuine, unscripted moment that captures the kind of random human connections that happen around live music in Texas.
Joshua may not have a packed calendar of honky tonk nights just yet, but with venues like Oh Why Not opening up and a community of musicians already calling it home, it's a town worth watching if you spend time in the Fort Worth area.