Bandera, Texas

Everything Bandera is known for

21 songs mention this city 3 artists from here

Bandera, Texas, known as the "Cowboy Capital of the World," has a rich connection to music, particularly country. This Texas Hill Country city is home to country artists such as Bruce Robison and Charlie Robison. The town's musical identity is also reflected in songs that bear its name, including "Bandera Texas" by Kix Brooks and "Bandera Waltz" by Bruce Robison.

With 17 songs in our collection mentioning Bandera and three artists calling it home, the city's influence on music is evident. Live country and acoustic music can be found nightly year-round in Bandera.

Music in Bandera

Songs About Bandera

Bandera Texas
Kix Brooks
83%
"Bandera texas a lifetime ago"
Bandera Waltz
Bruce Robison
81%
"They called it Bandera, the Bandera Waltz"
Bandera
Willie Nelson
80%
"Song about Bandera"
BANDERA
HUMBE
80%
"Song about Bandera"
Bandera
Porter
80%
"Song about Bandera"
Bandera
Kamakazi & Mexicano 777
80%
"Song about Bandera"
Bandera
Control Machete
80%
"Song about Bandera"
Bandera Baby
Mayeux & Broussard
79%
Bandera Waltz
Slim Whitman
79%
"They called it Bander-er-er-era"
Waterbill
Red Shahan
55%
"I broke an axle in Bandera"
Banks of the Old Bandera
Rodney Crowell
55%
Bandera Waltz
Texas Top Hands
55%
My Brother And Me
Bruce Robison
52%
"Take the boy out of Bandera, not the other way around"
Desperate Times
Charlie Robison
51%
"He drove off to Bandera, 'cause that was his hometown"
The New Bandera Waltz
Easy Adams and The Texas Top Hands
50%
Heaven
Kevin Fowler
30%
My Hometown
Charlie Robison
25%
"Around my hometown"
all my ex's live in texas
george strait
10%
Screw You, We’re From Texas
Josh Abbott Band
7%
"We got Willie and Jacky Jack, Robert Earl Pat, Cory, Charlie, Ray"
Having Fun All Wrong
Roger Creager
4%
"Oh I followed Robert Earl Keen from Dallas to sparkling city by the sea"

Showing top 20 of 21 songs

Artists From Bandera

B
Bruce Robison
country Pop: 50
C
Charlie Robison
country Pop: 46
S
Stryker Brothers
country Pop: 15

Rivers & Roads in Song near Bandera

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Bandera.

Guadalupe River 9 songs Interstate 10 23 songs US Route 90 6 songs Interstate 35 27 songs Frio River 8 songs Chisholm Trail 4 songs

History of Bandera

Bandera, TX RoadyGoat

Bandera, Texas – even the name itself tells a story. It means "flag" in Spanish, but not in the waving, patriotic sense. Rather, it refers to a boundary marker, a flag placed to delineate the edge of a territory. Back in 1853, when the town was established, that flag marked the line between settled lands and the wild frontier. It’s a fitting name, because even today, Bandera feels like that kind of threshold. You can almost feel the ruggedness and independence baked into the very soil, a world apart from the sprawling cities further east. The spirit of that frontier endures. You can see it in the weathered faces of the folks who gather on State Highway 16, the Cowboy Capital of the World's Main Street, and in the stubborn way the town rebuilt after the devastating flood of '78. Some say there's even a lost Spanish silver mine hidden somewhere in these hills, a treasure that’s never been found, just another whisper of the wild and untamed past that still clings to Bandera like the scent of live oak and juniper on a dry Hill Country breeze. Standing here, 1,263 feet above sea level, it's easy to believe that the flag marking the edge of something special still flies here.

Bandera, TX RoadyGoat

Bandera feels like a step back in time, a peaceful, rugged place nestled in the Texas Hill Country. You can almost feel the whispers of history carried on the breeze that rustles through the live oaks and Ashe juniper. It's easy to imagine cowboys riding down State Highway 16 – the Cowboy Capital of the World's Main Street – even though the traffic's a little thicker these days. It's a place steeped in legend, from the lost Spanish silver mine somewhere in these hills to the stories etched into the walls of the old courthouse. And then there's the music.

Bandera, TX RoadyGoat

Bandera, Texas, feels like a place where time slows down, where the air at 1,263 feet is noticeably clearer and drier. You can almost feel the echoes of history as you walk along State Highway 16, or as some folks call it, the Cowboy Capital of the World's Main Street. The name itself, Bandera, comes from "flag" or "boundary marker," a nod to its early role, officially founded in 1853. But even before that, whispers of a lost Spanish silver mine danced through these hills, a treasure still unfound, fueling the imaginations of generations. This wasn't always a peaceful escape. The rugged landscape, covered in live oak, Ashe juniper, and native grasses, has seen its share of hardship. The 1978 flood, a devastating event, reshaped the town, demanding resilience and sparking infrastructure changes that persist to this day. Even so, the spirit of Bandera endures, a blend of cowboy grit and Hill Country charm. You see it in the Classical Revival architecture of the 1890 courthouse, standing tall as a reminder of what we have overcome. Just a short drive away, the vibrant colors of Lost Maples State Natural Area provide a reminder of the natural beauty that has always been an important part of Bandera.

Bandera - Cowboy Capital of the World

1853

Bandera was a major staging point for cattle drives on the Great Western Trail. The town claims the title Cowboy Capital of the World.

Arkey Blue's Silver Dollar Saloon

1921

Located at 308 Main Street in downtown Bandera, Texas, this nightclub has hosted a number of local and national artists, including Robert Earl Keen, Willie Nelson, Charlie Robison, Johnny Bush, and Jay Hooker. The building was constructed in 1921 and opened as a social establishment called The Fox Hole. In the 1940s the dance hall became The Silver Dollar. In 1968 the venue was purchased by singer-songwriter, Arkey Juenke, who was born in nearby Gillespie County. After Juenke graduated from Fredericksburg High School, he began performing at Lost Valley Ranch, located east of Bandera. By 1968 Juenke had changed his name to Arkey Blue and bought the Silver Dollar Saloon where he still performed with his band, the Blue Cowboys, in the 2010s. Arkey Blue also has had several of his own songs featured in movies, including "Daddy's Sick Again" from the cult classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and "Living on Credit" and "Misty Hours of Daylight," from the 1975 Peter Fonda film Race with the Devil . In 2005 Arkey Blue was the first person to be inducted into the Bandera Music History Project Hall of Fame and he was named its Songwriter of the Year in 2011. The Hall of Fame proclaimed Arkey Blue's Silver Dollar Saloon to be a "Legendary Venue" in 2012. Named one of the top three honky-tonks in the state by Texas Highways magazine, the saloon celebrated its fiftieth anniversary as Arkey Blue's Silver Dollar Saloon in 2018 and has remained a popular live music venue for locals and tourists into the 2020s.

Tsha Handbook →

Texas Ranger Trail

1841

This winding, 100-mile trail from San Antonio to Kerrville was, during the 19th century, a strategic patrol road traveled by Texas Rangers to protect the surrounding area from hostile Indian attacks. During uneasy pioneer days roads such as this, regularly scouted by Rangers, helped promote early white settlement by strengthening frontier defense. Because Bandera was located midway on the trail and because Bandera Pass, 10 miles north, frequently harbored Indian ambushers, the town became a focal point for Ranger activities along the road. Perhaps the best-known battle to occur on the old route happened in Bandera Pass in the spring of 1841. At that time a company of 40 Texas Rangers, under intrepid Indian fighter Capt. "Jack" Hays, was on a scouting mission in the Guadalupe Mountains. Halfway through the pass, they were suddenly attacked by several hundred wild Comanches who lay hidden in the brush and behind boulders in the narrow gorge. A bloody fight ensued, much of it hand-to-hand combat with Bowie knives; but after their chief was slain, the Indians withdrew and finally escaped. Thus the Rangers and this trail helped remove the Indian menace and open the frontier across Texas. (1968)

Historical Marker →

Bandera County

1853

Bandera County is twenty-five miles northwest of San Antonio in the Edwards Plateau region of southwest Texas. It is bordered by Kerr and Kendall counties on the north, Bexar County on the east, Medina and Uvalde counties on the south, and Real County on the west. The county seat and largest town is Bandera, and the center of the county lies at 29°45' north latitude and 99°11' west longitude. The county is crossed by State highways 16, 46, and 173 and Farm roads 187, 337, 470, and 1283. Bandera County comprises an area of 793 square miles, with elevations that range from 1,200 to 2,300 feet. The western part of the county is drained by the Sabinal River and the eastern part by the Medina River. The alkaline and generally shallow soils overlie limy subsoils. The vegetation consists primarily of grasses such as bluestems, grama, buffalo grass, winter grass, and wild ryes. Along the many streams of the county grow cedar, post oak, Spanish oak, live oak, pecan, and cypress trees. Deer and turkey are plentiful, but there are no large predators. The climate features dry and mild winters and warm summers. Temperatures range in January from an average low of 36° to an average high of 69° F, and in July from 69° to 95° F. The average annual rainfall is twenty-nine inches; the average relative humidity is 76 percent at 6 a.m. and 45 percent at 6 p.m. There is no significant snowfall. The growing season averages 235 days a year, with the last freeze in late March and the first freeze in mid-November. The region has been the site of human habitation for several thousand years. Archeological artifacts suggest that the earliest human inhabitants arrived around 6,000 to 10,000 years ago and settled in rockshelters. Lipan Apaches and, later, Comanches subsequently drifted into the area. The first Europeans to set foot in what is now Bandera County were the Spanish, who probably explored the region in the early eighteenth century. Bandera is Spanish for "flag," and there are a number of colorful accounts as to how the county was named. One has it that a Spanish general named Bandera led a punitive expedition in the area against the Apaches after the Indians raided San Antonio de Béxar. Another relates that after pursuing the Indians to Bandera Pass the Spanish left a flag or flags to warn them against future raids. And a third legend claims that in 1752 (or 1732) a council was held between Spanish and Indian leaders, during which the Spanish pledged never to go north of the pass if the Indians agreed to cease their raids in the south, and a red flag was placed on the pass as a symbol of the treaty. Though it is not clear if one or any of these accounts is true, the name was in use by 1842, when a group of Texas Rangers under the command of Col. John Coffee (Jack) Hays defeated a large party of Comanches at Bandera Pass. In 1852 John James , Charles S. DeMontel , and John J. Herndon entered into a partnership to acquire land "in and above the mountains, commencing ten or fifteen miles above Castroville." Their purpose was to establish a town on the Medina River with a sawmill in order to cut the huge cypress trees that grew there for shingles. In 1853, James and DeMontel surveyed and platted the town of Bandera, and in early 1853 A. M. Milstead, Thomas Odem, P. D. Saner, and their families camped along the river and began making cypress shingles. By the fall of the same year the firm of James, Montel and Company built a horse-powered sawmill and opened a commissary store. In March 1854 a group of Mormons led by elder Lyman Wight reached Bandera. The colony, numbering approximately 250, eventually settled a few miles below the town at a site known for many years as "Mormon Camp," which is now covered by Medina Lake. For a time the Mormons manufactured tables, chairs, and other furnishings, which they sold in San Antonio. But Wight died before the colony was fully established, and many of the colony moved on to Utah or set

Tsha Handbook →

Phillips, Captain Jack

1876

A Bandera County Deputy Sheriff, Capt. Jack Phillips, set out alone on Dec. 29, 1876, on an official visit to Sabinal Canyon. Indians attacked him at Seco Canyon Pass, 22 miles southwest of Bandera. Phillips raced for the nearest settlement. When his horse was shot from under him, he ran for half a mile before being killed. A mail carrier and a couple on their way to the county seat to be married found his body later that day. Ironically, the Indians had been trailed for many miles by Texas Rangers who had turned back in exhaustion just before Phillips was waylaid. (1970, 1975)

Historical Marker →

Things to Do in Bandera

historical 19.6 mi away
The Nueces Massacre

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The Treue der Union Monument

Comfort's Treue der Union monument is the only memorial to Union soldiers on former Confederate soil south of the Mason-Dixon line. It honors thirty-four…
historical 19.5 mi away
The Freethinker Colony

Comfort was founded in 1854 by German intellectuals fleeing the failed revolutions of 1848. They were freethinkers -- educated liberals who opposed slavery and…
quirky 19.5 mi away
The Town With No Church

Comfort's German freethinker founders were so committed to separation of church and state that the town had no church building for its first forty years. They…
quirky 19.6 mi away
The Bald Cypress Tunnel

The Guadalupe River near Comfort runs through a tunnel of ancient bald cypress trees so thick the canopy blocks out the summer sun completely. Some of these…
historical 19.7 mi away
The Fachwerk Buildings

Comfort has the most intact collection of fachwerk -- German half-timber construction -- in Texas. The settlers used the same building techniques their…
food 0.2 mi away
OST Restaurant

Old Spanish Trail, on Main Street in Bandera — the Cowboy Capital's town cafe since 1921. Chuckwagon breakfast bar, mounted longhorn over the door, and a John…
quirky 19.4 mi away
The Antique Capital of the Hill Country

Comfort's main street has more antique shops per capita than arguably any town in Texas. The old limestone and half-timber buildings that line High Street have…

Everything Near Bandera

92 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

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