Billy Mata brings Western swing back to the 11th Street Cowboy Bar on Dec. 19

The San Antonio bandleader and Tommy Duncan devotee plays Bandera's "Biggest Little Bar in Texas" on the Saturday before Christmas.

The Saturday before Christmas in the Cowboy Capital of the World is booked. Billy Mata plays the 11th Street Cowboy Bar in Bandera on Saturday, Dec. 19, a date announced Oct. 19.

The night starts at 8 p.m.. Tickets are on sale through Outhouse Tickets. The bar is at 307 11th St.

If you've two-stepped at the Cowboy Bar any time in the past two decades, you've probably danced to Mata already. The bar's own website still keeps a Billy Mata page covering his dates there from 2006 to 2012.

Mata was born in San Antonio in 1957 and finished at Sam Houston High in 1976. According to the Texas Country Music Association and the Birthplace of Western Swing profile, he started out in the '70s singing Top 40 country that made the Billboard charts. In the mid-'90s he committed to what he calls "real country music." His 1998 album *Keepin' the Tradition: A Tribute to My Heroes* was the first with his own stage band, and he put it out himself because it didn't fit what the labels wanted at the time.

That bet paid off. Featured spots with Tommy Morrell and the Time Warp Top Hands on Larry Scott's radio show led to guest appearances with the Texas Playboys, with Tommy Allsup and Leon Rausch. From there came the West Texas Western Swing Festival in Snyder, and an annual invitation to the Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium in Ruidoso. Next came *Traditionally Yours, Billy Mata* in 2004 and *Domino Effect* in 2006 with Grammy winner Floyd Domino. In 2018 he released *This Is Tommy Duncan: The Trilogy*, a tribute to Bob Wills' great vocalist, whose phrasing Mata's own singing draws on. The Academy of Western Artists has named him its Western Swing Vocalist of the Year more than once. Lately his Texas Tradition band has also toured a Ray Price tribute through theaters like Lubbock's Cactus.

He's lived in Lytle since 2003, and when he isn't on a bandstand he works as a Master Hatter at Paris Hatters. That's the kind of detail that only adds up in a town like Bandera.

The bar has kept going too. Founder James McGroarty put the place up for sale a few years back, hoping a buyer would keep its legacy alive. Judging by a calendar that still runs from country newcomers to Western swing lifers like Mata, someone did.

If you've two-stepped at the Cowboy Bar, you've probably danced to Billy Mata already.

Plan for a full night; the dance floor will be full by the second song. Wear your good boots. Get tickets through Outhouse Tickets.

Sources: Outhouse Tickets — Billy Mata at 11th Street Cowboy Bar (events.outhousetickets.com); Billy Mata — Upcoming Shows (billymataentertainer.com); 11th Street Cowboy Bar — Billy Mata (11thstreetcowboybar.com); Texas Country Music Association — Billy Mata and the Texas Tradition (texascountrymusicassociation.org); Cowtown Birthplace of Western Swing — Billy Mata (birthplaceofwesternswing.com); Cactus Theater — For the Good Times: Tribute to Ray Price (cactustheater.com); Texas Highways — Bandera's historic 11th Street Cowboy Bar is for sale (texashighways.com); Bandera Cowboy Capital — 11th Street Cowboy Bar (banderacowboycapital.com); Bandera, Texas: Cowboy Capital of the World (Realty News Report) (realtynewsreport.com)