Kessler announces lineup for soft launch of newly-renovated Longhorn Ballroom

Dallas, Texas — Hot on the heels of their announcement regarding the re-opening of Dallas’s famed Longhorn Ballroom, the team behind the venue, Kessler Presents, is already scheduling top tier programming. Today, the performers were announced for the Longhorn’s soft launch period beginning at the end of March and continuing into April, wasting no time adding new names to the legendary list of musicians who’ve already stepped foot on this stage—not to mention inviting some of them back.

On March 30, Western Swing torchbearers Asleep at the Wheel with Brennen Leigh and Joshua Hedley will be the first acts back in the Longhorn, keeping in line with Kessler Presents’ goal of honoring and connecting the venue’s history to the venue’s present and future.

“We first played the Longhorn in 1974, and for a bunch of young Bob Wills fans, it was a thrill. I have seen the ups and downs of the Longhorn over the last 50 years, and am very excited and relieved that Edwin and his team are going to continue to honor the tradition of this special place and make sure it is never forgotten or lost like so many other of Texas’ historic venues and dance halls,” says Asleep at the Wheel frontman and founder, Ray Benson. “To be the first band back on the Longhorn stage for the reopening is an honor and an opportunity I take great pride in having. You can bet the dance floor will be packed and Bob Wills music will be played!”

Heading into the weekend, Old Crow Medicine Show and special guest Joshua Ray Walker will perform on March 31, and on Saturday, April 1, Morgan Wade with special guests Lucero and Kaitlin Butts will finish out the Longhorn Ballroom’s weekend. Part of the drive behind everything Kessler Presents does—and by proxy, the Longhorn Ballroom—is to support and grow artists. So, when the demand for Morgan Wade’s originally scheduled Kessler Theater show instantly sold out,  it only made sense to move the wildly-popular artist’s performance over to the new, larger-capacity Longhorn Ballroom—and to add alt-country favorites Lucero to the bill. Finally, on April 22, the long-reigning queen of Americana, Emmylou Harris, will grace the Longhorn stage for the very first time—a modern history moment.

All shows will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. CST on their respective on-sale date, see below for more information. Tickets can be purchased at Longhornballroom.com.

“We are excited to share the first batch of shows as it is just a taste of what patrons can expect from Longhorn Ballroom programming in the coming years,” says the Longhorn’s primary steward and head of Kessler Presents, Edwin Cabaniss. “From the legendary to the emerging-and-rocketing-toward-stardom, every bill during our soft launch is made up of artists we love and are personally excited to see perform. Taking our cues from the venue’s 72-year-old history—we’re taking our time building out our calendar because we want to get it just right. We want to ensure artists and patrons have a remarkable experience every time they walk through our doors.”