09/03/2026
There are some bands that feel like they’ve always been part of the Texas music landscape.
For me, Eleven Hundred Springs is one of those bands.
The story starts in 1998, when Matt Hillyer, Steven Berg and Richie Vasquez got together and started making some noise in Dallas. Hillyer and Berg already had some history together, having played in several bands before, including the Dallas rockabilly outfit Lone Star Trio.
But Eleven Hundred Springs was something different.
They became a regular fixture at Adair’s Saloon in Deep Ellum, playing a legendary Monday night residency that went on for a long time. And if you know anything about the history of Texas music, you know that a Monday night at Adair’s might not sound like the most glamorous gig in the world — but those rooms are where bands get built.
It was during those early Adair’s days that they recorded their first album, Welcome to Eleven Hundred Springs, along with Live at Adair’s Saloon.
And over the years, the band really found its identity.
They moved away from their early rockabilly sound and settled into that old-school honky-tonk, traditional country and outlaw country territory that just felt right coming out of Texas. They became part of that generation of Texas artists helping build the scene alongside guys like Pat Green and Kevin Fowler, while carving out a sound that was very much their own.
The lineup changed plenty of times over the years, but Matt Hillyer and Steven Berg remained the heart of the band. Jordan Hendrix joined in 2006, and eventually a long list of great musicians passed through the Eleven Hundred Springs lineup.
They recorded more than a dozen albums, toured all over the country and shared stages with some pretty legendary names — including Willie Nelson.
Then, in June of 2021, Hillyer announced that Eleven Hundred Springs was coming to an end.
They played farewell shows throughout the rest of the year, with the final full-band performance taking place November 26, 2021, at the Granada Theater in Dallas.
There was supposed to be one more show at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth, but illness in the band kept that from happening.
And that looked like the end of the story.
Except… apparently it wasn't.
In February of 2025, Eleven Hundred Springs reunited for one night at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas for a benefit show called “Punks & Pokes,” sharing the bill with Bowling For Soup. The whole thing was inspired by that famous 1978 Longhorn Ballroom marquee that once paired the S*x Pistols with Merle Haggard.
Honestly, that's about as Texas as it gets.
Eleven Hundred Springs may not be a band that's currently out there playing every weekend, but their fingerprints are all over the Texas music scene.
And if you spent any time around Texas honky-tonks, dance halls, Adair’s, the Longhorn Ballroom or the Texas music circuit during their run, there's a pretty good chance you crossed paths with them.
So let me ask you this:
What’s your favorite Eleven Hundred Springs song or album?
And if you ever saw them live — where did you see them? I'd especially love to hear some of those stories.
