Bartonville's Battle of the Bands Ends on Thanksgiving Weekend

Since August, The Bartonville Store & Jeter's Meat Shop at 96 McMakin Road has spent its Wednesday nights running a local Battle of the Bands. On Friday, Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving, the two winners take the main stage. The solo or duo act plays first and the full band closes the night. The cover at the door is $5.

That stage also hosts this fall's ticketed headliners: an Austin City Limits guitarist, Freddie King's daughter, and Dale Watson. For one night over the holiday weekend, the people who earned the stage play it for about the price of a coffee. Each piece of the Store's November calendar leads up to that Friday.

How a Wednesday Act Earns a Friday Slot

The contest has two brackets. Each one ends in a semifinal at the Store, and each awards a paid gig.

• Solo/Duo semifinal, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 7 to 10 p.m. Five acts were scheduled to compete, with the winner to be announced at the end of the night. That act gets a $250 paid gig on Friday, Nov. 27, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
• Full Band semifinal, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 7 to 10 p.m. Three bands compete. The winner gets a $500 paid gig on Nov. 27, from 9 to 11 p.m.

Both semifinals use the same scoring. A four-judge panel counts for 80% of the result, and paper ballots from the room count for the other 20%. So the crowd can't decide a close semifinal alone, but it can tip one. If you know anyone in the three-band final, Nov. 11 is the night your ballot matters. By Nov. 27 the voting is over and the winners just play.

The Store's own description of the finale says the competitors "have put in the hard work to get to this night," and that local performers have competed "on Wednesdays from August-November as we count down to this exciting night." The finale lineup will be posted once the semifinal winners are known.

The Same Stage at Four Price Points

The contest sits inside a regular week that already runs at several price points. In order of cost, from the venue's calendar and its ticketing partner:

1. Thursday Blues Jam, 7 to 11 p.m., free. Mark Sena and his Jam Band, with Texas Slim, Reo Casey and Bill Cornish, host each week. Guest blues players rotate in, including Jim Suhler, Buck Galbreath, Tommy Katona, Joey Love, Marcus Mote and Michael King.
2. Sunday Open Mic with Justin Collins, 2 to 4 p.m. It runs every Sunday afternoon and is billed as a chance to "PLUG IN and perform front and center," for experienced performers and first-timers alike.
3. Battle of the Bands finale, Nov. 27, $5 at the door.
4. Weekend headliners, ticketed through StubWire. Listed general admission for November and December runs from $12 to $28, fees included.

The Store describes the Thursday jam as a way to "experience big LIVE MUSIC talents right in the heart of little ole' Bartonville." The guest list backs that up. Players who headline elsewhere sit in on a free weeknight, and the bottom three tiers together cost less than one Saturday ticket. Thursday nights and Sunday afternoons take reservations through Tock, and so does the finale.

Who Plays the Weekends Around the Finale

The contest winners get Nov. 27, and established acts fill the weekends on both sides. Headliner prices below are StubWire's listed general admission, fees included, at the time of writing; the finale row shows the Store's posted door cover. Ticket inventory on the Store's StubWire page changes, and several shows were already showing limited availability, so treat these figures as a guide.

Monte Montgomery plays twice in three weeks, and each show has a different shape. On Nov. 20 he plays solo, which the Store calls a rare solo performance. His credits include an Austin City Limits appearance and seven straight "Best Acoustic Guitar Player" awards at the Austin Chronicle's Austin Music Awards. On Dec. 4 he returns with Dolby Kings, a trio with Dave Deshazo on bass and Phil Bass on drums that plays songs from the 1970s.

The two listings name the Dec. 5 show differently. The Store's calendar calls it the Wanda King Big Band, a night of big band blues from the daughter of Freddie King. StubWire lists it as the Wanda King Blues Revue. Whichever name you go by, it is the cheapest headliner ticket on the December calendar. The Store calls Dale Watson "the originator" of the honky-tonk sound he named "Ameripolitan," and his Dec. 18 show is the most expensive.

Thanksgiving Weekend, Hour by Hour

Most of the North Texas holiday calendar this year lands the following week. Our Village Glows at The Shops at Highland Village is Nov. 21, and Flower Mound's Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting at Bakersfield Park is Dec. 5, according to the Cross Timbers Gazette community calendar. That leaves the Friday after Thanksgiving open, and the Store has booked it locally.

On Nov. 27, the Solo/Duo winner starts at 6:30 p.m. and the Full Band winner starts at 9 p.m., according to the Store's own calendar. StubWire's listing shows a single 8 p.m. start and a $6.25 general admission ticket with fees, so the venue page is the better guide to set times. If you want to hear both acts, plan to arrive before 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 28, Raised Right Men play at 8 p.m., with doors at 5 p.m. At $14.25 it is the second-lowest headliner price on the table. That makes Friday and Saturday together an inexpensive way to entertain out-of-town relatives staying through the weekend.

Posted hours are Wednesday 5 to 10 p.m., Thursday and Friday 3 p.m. to midnight, Saturday 11 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Thursday Blues Jam is billed for every Thursday, and Thanksgiving Day falls on a Thursday this year, so check with the Store before planning a holiday-night visit.

A Corner With Several Past Lives

The building has been a gathering place for a long time. Per the Store's website, the site has served as a grocery, feed store, church, school and gas station over roughly 140 years. Accounts of its start differ. A Denton County Magazine profile dates the original general store to 1882 and says it was rebuilt near Jeter and McMakin after a fire around 1944. In a 2013 Cross Timbers Gazette story, the owner at the time said he had been told a general store had stood there "since the 1850's." That year the property went to the Town of Bartonville and was later auctioned to the operators who reopened it as a restaurant and music venue, the Cross Timbers Gazette reported in 2019.

The Town is also putting money into the corner this season. In a July 8, 2026 memo to the Bartonville Community Development Corporation, staff reported that the Old Town Christmas lighting at FM 407 and McMakin will reuse the 2025 decorations with a leased tree. The lease covers the 2026 and 2027 seasons at $14,000 per year. Buying a tree outright would have gone over the board's annual marketing spending limit, so staff chose to lease. For comparison, in October 2025 the board approved up to $14,000 for that year's lighting at the same corner. The July memo does not give a date for the 2026 Old Town Christmas event. The Town recommends signing up for "Notify Me" alerts on the Town of Bartonville website to stay current on community news.

If you're curious what else is taking shape around Old Town Bartonville this season, K.E. Boyd follows these corners closely and is glad to talk through them with you. Let's Connect.