Reasons to Believe

by Jayson Bales

The past six months or so we’ve all been reading stories about how the Dallas music scene is dying or already dead, due to the death of Deep Ellum and the lack of “big” bands coming out of the local scene. Gone are the bands of epic proportions that ring loud on the national scene as in the 1990s. No more Toadies, Jackopierce, Edie Brickell, The Old 97s, etc. They’ve all moved on right? I say all of that is BS. Yes, the Dallas music scene is somewhat fractured. Yes, the downfall of Deep Ellum is very discouraging to local musicians and music fans. Yes, we all know that Dallas being the home of the fancy, $35,000 a year millionaire and our inept city government and their lack of support makes it tough to build the kind of community-wide support of the music scene that Austin might have. But even if those statements are true, it does not mean the death of this music community. In fact, I would argue that the Dallas music scene is on the verge of thriving due to a higher level of consciousness to build the community among musicians, a new wave of music fans discovering great new music right now in this city, and due to some exciting musical acts coming out of our great city. Though there are many, I offer up the following examples as proof of the survival and soon to be thriving Dallas music scene:

The Music

Travis Hopper – Though he’s been around in the Dallas music scene for awhile playing in bands (including my band sometimes), Travis is really new to the scene. He just released his first solo album, “All The Lights In The City Tonight” which is getting some good buzz among other musicians and music critics. When I first heard the album, I loved it but I wasn’t convinced until Travis opened a show for me in February. At that point, he sold me. His voice and stage presence have come a long way since the time I saw him solo two years ago. You could tell he felt and believed in everything he was singing and the sincerity of his voice and demeanor gave the music a soul. Travis Hopper makes you believe in and feel the images he sings about.

Radiant* – I’ve heard people say that these guys are a U2 or Coldplay starter kit.What is wrong with that? We are all ripping off other artists in our music. We just dress it up and call it “influences.” Look, these guys are pop stars waiting to happen. Great musicians, great hooks and a good stage show. They have a symphonic sound and the truth is, we don’t always need to hear the next Bob Dylan lyricist spewing out truth. I don’t care what these guys sing about, they sound good and they have the potential to go national.

Max Stalling – Max is already a regional success, and a staple on the Texas music scene. However, unlike the canned concepts of drinking lone star, floating the river, and wishing for my girl to come back home, Max writes about topics from an offcentered point of view and turns the most mundane subjects into interesting topics. Far and away one of the best Texas’ music songwriters (if there is such a genre), Max keeps putting out good Americana albums and his straight ahead live shows are some of the best of any Dallas’ musician.

The Chemistry Set – Unlike other post-punk, new wave influenced bands, these guys have the ability to morph from different sounds to create a more interesting show than one just laden with synth hooks and goth lyrics. I don’t know what it is about these guys, but their live shows are just hard to ignore and just when you think you know what is coming, they take you in a different direction sonically. Lead singer and songwriter Stephen Duncan is a great musician and knows how to keep you off balance just enough to want to keep listening to every song. And then before you know it, the set is over and you want more. I can see these guys getting the kind of cult following that Spoon had in their early days.

The Transcenders – If you want energy, this is the band. Part jam band, part straight ahead rock-n-roll, part alternative with a splash of country, these guys just write sonically sound music and they understand the build of a song and how to take the audience up and down. Their live shows keep getting better, though the music was always solid to begin with and it overcame any of their stage awkwardness. These guys are all buddies and they’re all laid back and it comes across in their music. I’d call it fireside, living room rock-n-roll. You feel like these guys are your neighbors and you’ve known them forever, but they just happen to be playing music onstage to a rockin’ crowd in your living room. This is the way big college rock acts like Dave Matthews and Widespread Panic started out. All it would take is a few college kids jumping on the Transcender bandwagon and these guys could be the next big word of mouth band that sells out clubs and never gets any radio play. I’ll play a live show with them anytime. It’s just that fun.

Sorta – I know I’m late to the party on these guys, but I now feel like the songwriting has caught up to the great musicianship of this band. These guys sum up a lot of what’s cool about rock-n-roll and now they have songs I believe are ready to get them the kind of regional and possibly national attention similar to that of Spoon, Wilco, Bob Schneider, etc. What songs am I talking about? “85 Feet and Falling” is quite possibly the best song I’ve heard anywhere in a year. “Lazybones” is a pop rocker with enough sonic quirks to put it on the same level as some of Spoon’s better tunes.

Salim Nourallah – Salim should be the Dallas Music Ambassador to the world. No musician has more impact on more musicians and is more respected than Salim. His production work is gaining him a great deal of notoriety, but that shouldn’t overshadow his own music. I’m a songwriter and a good judge of songwriting, and I say Salim is the best songwriter in Dallas right now. His music is very, very subtle, but if you really listen, some of his profound statements knock you on your ass. Your average music listener may never know about Tom Waits, Patty Griffin, or Paul Westerberg and they may never know about Salim Nourallah. But ask anyone who plays music or is in the Dallas music scene, and they’ll tell you Salim is who they listen to and respect.

The People

Mike Schoder – I’m not sure anyone believes in or loves the Dallas music scene more than Mike. I’m not sure there’s anyone more positive and uplifting to be around than Mike when it comes to music. Mike’s a big player in the music scene with one of the best music venues (The Granada Theater) bringing in big name national acts, and with the two best music stores in town, CD World on Greenville Ave and in Addison. What sets Mike apart though is his desire to give and give to the local music community in any way he can. Just ask how many local musicians have worked for him over the years? And whether it’s a local showcase or a big national act coming through The Granada, Mike always makes a point of having local music on the bill and working extra hard to promote all kinds of local acts. He is genuine and selfless when it comes to Dallas music.

Kate Mackley & Cindy Chaffin – Though both women are independent journalists, writers, and/or photographers, it’s hard not to think of them as a pair because they both work tireless and thankless hours mostly for free just because they love and believe in the local music scene. Cindy’s texasgigs.com is still the best website and blog if you want to be in the know on local music and Kate can be seen all over town taking photos at the clubs. More than anything else though, they are positive and choose to build up the scene and the bands they like rather than tear down the scene and acts they don’t like. In a world of cynical writers and journalists, these women are a breath of fresh air while still not comprising truth by doing so. [Editors note: TexasGigs.com is no longer just a labor of my (Cindy's) love blog, but a full fledged-intern entering events-Gary making corrections-kinda site now, but thanks for the love Jayson!]

David Card – Often a lightning rod and always a character, David owns the longest running live music venue in Dallas and one of the longest running in the country. Most every famous act to ever come out of Dallas has played at Poor David’s Pub including the Dixie Chicks, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. Also, many of the best national acts to come through Dallas have stopped in at Poor David’s Pub. Despite the national respect though David has garnered, he has worked hard at finding and promoting local talent. Look no further than Poor David’s Annual BW Stevenson Songwriting Competition, which gathers some of the best songwriting talent anywhere. Local acts Kristy Kruger, Jay Johnson, Max Stalling and Doug Burr are all BW Stevenson winners. David Card has given many acts in this town their first opportunity to play onstage and that includes myself.

Hunter Hauk – Here’s a journalist that is working hard to get the masses to notice the local music scene. He is diligent in writing about multiple Dallas bands each week in both Quick and The Dallas Morning News and his writing has taken Quick from an irrelevant short version of the DMN for dummies into a free and readily available source of legitimate music news covering the local scene. Furthermore, he manages to write as a seasoned music critic while not coming across as overly cynical and maintaining his status as a music fan.

Josh Venable/Justin Frazell – With major market radio, it’s hard to get indie music of any kind, much less local indie music on the airwaves. Both Josh and Justin though are examples of music fans who believe in the local scene and who have pushed against traditional radio programming and ultimately delivered local music to massive radio audiences in DFW. It’s that simple. And yes, radio is still the fastest way for an artist to deliver his or her product to the masses.

Pascale Hall – Though its original intent was probably not to be known as a music venue, Standard & Pour’s Coffeehouse has become just that, particularly a venue for new and emerging artists trying to jumpstart their career. In the process, word got out that Standard & Pour’s was a cool place and now much bigger acts are playing acoustic sets there, though owner Pascale Hall still makes room for newer and lesser known artists. Did I mention that Pascale also runs a pirate internet radio station playing nothing but music from her performing artists and that she employs local musicians as well? Did I also mention that Pascale tirelessly promotes locally artists to anyone who will listen to her and that when she’s not at her own shop, she can usually be found at other venues listening to local music?

Other

The Dallas Observer – As much as you don’t want to admit it, The Observer is the one newspaper or magazine that every musician in Dallas reads. For all the sarcasm, one-sided coverage and self-importance, it’s still the source of good local music information and they have good writers on staff. You also have to give Music Editor Sam Machovech credit: he’s reaching out and covering the local rap and hip-hop scene as well, something the paper has ignored in the past.

Brooklyn’s Jazz Café – Why would this be proof of a surviving and potentially thriving music scene? First of all, it’s as simple as the fact that this place has survived. Formerly in the Bishop Arts District catering to a jazz and R&B music scene that is definitely under the radar in town, Brooklyn’s has recently moved its digs to a more music friendly area, the Southside district, where Gilley’s, Standard & Pour’s and Poor David’s Pub reside. Second, Brooklyn’s being a jazz haunt can only help and support the jazz scene locally, which has never been that strong and suffered after Sambuca left Deep Ellum. And jazz is important to the scene because it influences so many other types of music and creativity and there are now a good deal of misplaced New Orleans musicians right here in Dallas looking to connect with the music community. Some of the best musicians in this city are jazz musicians and it wasn’t that long ago that Norah Jones worked right here in this city.

House of Blues – A major national concert venue and promotion company is setting up shop in Dallas. This should only help the local music scene by hopefully allowing local acts to garner big opening slots at the HOB for major touring artists and these acts and music industry types more aware of Dallas.