Live Music in Dallas

Dallas may not be Austin, but with 110 live performances daily, it’s certainly something. Blues is Dallas’s hallmark and that former warehouse district, Deep Ellum, was where that blues scene began. It’s still bluesy, if jazzy and alternative as well, home to experimental music and rock so new or weird that the big names haven’t sniffed it out yet. As the city expands, these entertainment districts and music venues expand as well, sometimes from focused to eclectic and Deep Ellum is only one district of many. The daily newspapers tend to be very thorough about what’s playing where and when. Greenville is another area to crawl when just looking for something to listen to.

And Dallas has expanded. Naturally, the blues scene is matched by the country-western one, with massive honky-tonks and country dance floors. (The largest dance floor in Texas is in Cowboys.) Latin dance is also big in Dallas, and other ethnic dance styles find place as well, particularly Polish and Celtic. In fact, the National Polka Festival can be found near Dallas in Ennis, come May, and the Texas Scottish Festival and Highland Games rolls out in Arlington in June. For something a bit more mainstream (and more family friendly than trawling the streets for live music), check out the Dallas Summer Musicals and the excellent Dallas Symphony Orchestra.