We are a part of the Texas Music Cafe community. Come along for a tour of our lessons studio, venue, and control room that work tirelessly to turn dreams into reality.

Music studio with wooden floors, guitars, drum set, piano, lockers, and seating area decorated with string lights and tapestry.

Lessons Studio

Group of people standing and chatting in a warmly lit room with string lights and a mural of a globe on the wall.

The main base of Cardinals operation within the Texas Music Cafe. Playfully referred to as “Banjo Frog Studio,” within this space we host lessons that are enriched by the comfy yet scholastic environment. It is also a fully functioning audio/visual studio equipped with film grade cameras, professional studio gear, a green screen, and an exotic selection of instruments that are sure to pique curiosity. (When is the last time you’ve seen an accordion, steel drum, and pedal steel in one room?!)

Come check it out for yourself! It truly is something special.

An empty performance stage inside a rustic music cafe with purple chairs, small round tables, a wall full of framed photos, and neon signs reading 'The Texas Music Cafe'. There are also cameras and tripods set up on the stage.
Three musicians playing acoustic guitars on stage during a live performance, with an audience watching.

Venue

This is where the rubber meets the road and music history is recorded in real time. Texas Music Cafes Downtown location is the most recent iteration of a 28 year legacy. In this intimate, family friendly venue we host weekly, professionally recorded concerts in effort to memorialize Texas artists: young and old, professional and amateur. Our sole qualification is to play your own original music.

This stage is also where Cardinals students will perform the music they learn during the year for our recitals. TV quality video and audio of the student that will be cherished by them and their loved ones for years to come; a recorded moment that will only become more precious with time.

Control Room

A recording studio with multiple monitors, audio equipment, and computers, featuring a large mixing console at the center, two large speakers, and a wall-mounted TV screen.

This is where the behind the scenes magic happens. It’s hard to fathom how much actually goes into bringing professional recordings to life, it is something that is awesome to witness. Recording audio, video, directing, mixing, mastering, lights, livestreaming, programmed cues, and countless other aspects bring the show to life.

A video production mix console with multiple monitors showing a live concert recording with musicians playing guitar and singing, with a person operating the equipment in a dark control room

Audio

At Cardinal we know it is essential to grasp the broader picture to attain mastery, that is why we actively encourage engagement and curiosity towards these technical aspects. There are skills that can be learned here that reach far outside the scope of playing an instrument. Cardinal students are welcome to shadow technicians at work during shows and start to wrap their heads around how dreams become reality.

Two people working in a video production control room with multiple monitors showing a musician playing guitar, surrounded by audio and video equipment in a dimly lit room.

Video