Dallas’s Longhorn Ballroom opened in 1950 as Bob Wills’ Ranch House, a showcase for the king of western swing. For the next six decades, the Old West–themed dance hall presented the biggest stars of blues and country, and steadily widened its embrace to take in giants of jazz, rock, R&B, punk, and Tejano, earning a reputation as one of Texas’s most storied music venues.

The Longhorn’s quaint ranch aesthetic belies a reputation dotted with illicit activity. Jack Ruby, who owned the place for a while before he went on to shoot Lee Harvey Oswald, may have been mobbed up. A classic 1978 photo depicts a moment when the Sex Pistols and Merle Haggard shared the roadside marquee, foreshadowing the infamous night when Sid Vicious bled onstage.

Notoriety, Texana, and the ghosts of so many Hall of Famers should have made the Longhorn a cultural mecca. But it slid into disrepair and bankruptcy on the edge of the gentrifying Cedars neighborhood—conditions that could have doomed it to become dust, then apartments.

“Joni Mitchell sang about it fifty years ago—they paved over paradise and put up a parking lot. That’s where this almost was,” says new owner Edwin Cabaniss, who was not about to let that happen. The promoter who, with his wife, Lisa Cabaniss, previously revived the Kessler Theater in Dallas’s Oak Cliff and the Heights Theater in Houston, had his sights on the Longhorn Ballroom for years. He acquired the property in 2022 and spearheaded the $20 million project, which includes $4 million in economic incentives from the city.

Ensuring the fabled music hall could endure for another seventy-plus years called for more than just preservation. It needed a total reimagining, with modern systems and acoustics appealing to artists as well as audiences. Comforts like capacious bars; well-appointed restrooms; and, crucially, strong air conditioning will help guests stay focused on the music.

At the same time, photo galleries and shadow-box displays celebrating past eras serve up the Longhorn’s history chronologically, as edu-tainment. “Like a museum with a beer in your hand,” says Cabaniss, “and QR codes if you want to go deeper.” Salvaged materials—such as wood flooring repurposed as paneling, and a millwork back bar that anchors the VIP Proprietor’s Room—heighten the all-important sense of authenticity. “We’re trying to let the Longhorn do what it’s always done,” says Cabaniss.

The first headliners to herald the new era will be Asleep at the Wheel, Old Crow Medicine Show, Morgan Wade with Lucero, and Emmylou Harris. The Longhorn Ballroom is now under review for the National Register of Historic Places. “That designation is important,” says Cabaniss. “It tells the world you are something, and you intend to stay something.”

A small crowd gathered for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 30. The Old West character of the exterior is completely intact. One of the midcentury murals, seen partially, is in the process of restoration.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
Attending the festivities, from left to right: Dallas mayor pro tem Carolyn King Arnold; wife and husband team Lisa Cabaniss and Edwin Cabaniss; their daughters, Rachelle and Gabrielle Cabaniss; Councilman Jesse Moreno; and director of the Texas Music Office Brendon Anthony.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
In 1957, the owners carved out a space they called the Guthrey Club to feature R&B artists. Today that area serves as the main entrance.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
The salvaged neon sign.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
A gallery wall in the entryway features Hall of Famers who’ve played the storied venue. A custom-built magnetic framing system enables the faces to be changed up easily for different audiences. 
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
The bar tops are inlaid with epoxy Longhorn logos.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
Shadow boxes illuminate memorabilia of musical icons who performed at the Longhorn over the decades. Loretta Lynn’s box contains the dress she performed in. The Sex Pistols’ has a small screen playing footage of the band’s infamous appearance.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
Concert posters flank a giclee of Swing Band by North Texas artist Jon Flaming. The gray walls were inspired by the Museu Picasso in Barcelona.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
The VIP area, called the Proprietor’s Room, features a refurbished bar from the Dewey Groom era and a safe that belonged to Jack Ruby, who, before he was an assassin, was a serial nightclub operator.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
Flooding led to mold remediation, which led to the discovery of this mural, which had been hidden for decades. “A happy accident,” Cabaniss says.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
James Brown’s monogrammed robe anchors the Soul Power shadow box. A passageway leads to a pair of premium suites and offers a peek at the stage beyond.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughn hailed from Oak Cliff, the Dallas neighborhood where the Cabanisses restored the Kessler Theater and also reside.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
The modern and the nostalgic go hand-in-hand here.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
Edwin Cabaniss hopes to pass the torch to his daughters “or someone like-minded. We’d never sell to a Live Nation.” He and Lisa previously revived the Kessler and the Heights Theater in Houston.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
The stage awaits its first headliner of the new era, Asleep at the Wheel. The band first played here in the 1970s, on the night Bob Wills died. 
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
Original floorboards had to be replaced due to flood damage. They were repurposed as paneling around the sunken seating area, with the backlit steel logo panels adding a modern note.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
At a distance, the marquee looks unchanged from the classic 1978 photo, but it has been refurbished and reinforced to withstand wind gusts. 
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus
The iconic sign and bull stand tall on Corinth Street.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus