25 April 20–26, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Some North Texas bands make their fol- lowing online only and aren’t known as lo- cals (Grand Commander, Polyphia). But online popularity doesn’t always translate to touring opportunities unless an artist has the kind of following Marc Rebillet has, which is so substantial that his audience is seemingly everywhere. Jah Born says artists should look to Re- billet as a “blueprint.” The “Loop Daddy’’ had a decent follow- ing in Dallas venues, such as his weekly resi- dency at Twilite, but his wild musical antics and boxers-and-open-robe videos landed him legions of followers on YouTube. Last year, he got his own Twitch show. “He’s showing it to you there, and he’s a real cool dude,” Jah Born says of Rebillet. “I’m not saying go strip down to your drawers and play the piano on Twitch. What I’m saying is, you know, if you really have the mega-talent then utilize every resource at your disposal. And we have so many here in Dallas.” In a sense, the Rebillet route eliminates the need to move to New York to wait tables in the hope of getting discovered, and North Texas has enough venues taking chances on original artists in the meantime. The Kessler is one venue betting on local artists, usually filling opening slots with traveling acts. The historic Oak Cliff venue’s artistic director, musician and writer, Jeff Liles, keeps one bit of advice in his pocket. “What it really boils down to is the mate- rial itself, the music that they’re making,” he says, “if there’s something quirky or if there’s something that’s definitely different about the approach.” Liles believes that when someone is good, the public will embrace them, but be- yond good, the acts must be exciting. “A traditional rock band or a traditional solo singer-songwriter or whatever, it takes them longer to establish a base because there’s so much of that stuff out there,” Liles says. “People have been doing it for 40 or 50 years now. But you got a guy like Marc [Re- billet], you know, who’s just self-contained and does everything, all of his own elec- tronic stuff, or Polyphia — what they do is so unique, you know, it’s not like a traditional rock band at all, they have a different guest on every single song — and same thing with [DOMi and] JD Beck … that’s what they’re doing. It’s a jazz duo, you know. That’s rare.” Some acts, Liles says, are creating a niche and “reinventing the wheel, essen- tially, musically.” “They’re the ones that blow up and get big faster because people have never seen something like that before.” Still, some “traditionalist” acts such as Joshua Ray Walker and Charley Crockett have found fame by sticking to typical ave- nues for discovery: In Crockett’s case, the path led from local press to local radio, to national radio and national press. Balis also brings up country tunesmith Walker and Vandoliers as examples of stars rising up “organically.” For Balis, DFW is not necessarily burst- ing with fans looking for the next big thing. “I don’t know, the culture here is not about music I don’t think,” Balis says. “Which is a shame because the history here is incredible.” What he thinks it’s mostly about is “money, making money, getting paid, doing blow or whatever,” he says with a laugh. “There are a lot of other things [rather than] going out and checking out a local band. It’s not like Austin or Portland or Seattle. … Dal- las is not that way. It’s kind of like the LA of the Midwest in a way.” One genre that seems to be sheltered from any “LA” attitude toward local bands is hip-hop. Artists do come up in DFW through local fan followings and sold-out shows, building buzz with national audi- ences who pay attention to Dallas. Female rappers, in particular, have emerged from the DFW hip-hop scene — Tay Money, Kaash Paige, Erica Banks — to find large fol- lowings online. But none of these artists has yet reached worldwide fame, as Jah Born points out, largely because they’re competing with na- tional acts favored by fans. “It’s a really weird time to consume mu- sic,” Jah Born says. “Where is the actual su- per-duper superstar? They’re gone. There’s a whole bunch of little mini stars now, you know, and we’re in this weird transitional stage in music and, unfortunately, local acts are impacted by this change. Hopefully we can adapt.” While everyone has hypotheses, scape- goats and culprits when considering the challenges facing acts in search of local fans, Dallas remains a working musician’s city. With every major and medium concert pass- ing through town, the opportunities for openers are plentiful. Hundreds of venues hire original acts weekly, and with many stu- dios and producers working consistently with national acts, there are plenty of oppor- tunities for session work and high-paying touring gigs. The gig economy also is gener- ous toward bands looking to play weddings, corporate events and “tourist” music as trib- utes and covers. “It’s a great city,” Balis says. “If you wanna work, you can make a living and get by playing gigs, but you kind of got to be able to do a lot of different stuff and play a lot and hustle, and you gotta be willing to probably pick up a couple of cover band gigs too.” Slavens sees his peers doing this. “Everybody’s playing in cover bands, the people that I highly respect,” he says. “And they’re loving it, and it makes me a little sad. But shit, man, at least people are coming to see music and at least musicians are making some money.” Redefining Success C hances are, nearly any live show you might catch in DFW or in venues from Houston to California was booked by talent agency 13th Floor Music. One of the company’s agents is David Pon- der, who was an artist on the roster with his band Somebody’s Darling before he started working for 13th Floor owner Ken Welker. The company books about 250 shows a week during its “on season” from St. Pat- rick’s Day to Thanksgiving, Ponder says. Ponder’s clients, he says, request country bands, artists influenced by classic rock, and of course, Texas blues. “There is an endless appetite for the blues guitar solo here in Texas,” he says with a laugh. Many bigger venues work with in-house talent buyers, so a large part of 13th Floor’s dominion consists of free shows at bars and restaurants seeking a mix of originals and covers. “I’ve definitely seen a growing demand for tribute acts, which is, obviously, covers- only by design,” Ponder says. “Really the main directive, the thing that I get from ev- ery single client is we just want something upbeat and fun, you know what I mean? That’s the one thing that crosses over every place.” For Ponder, there are “two different bas- kets” when it comes to booking venues. The first is venues with built-in audiences, with bands playing for three hours. The atten- dance, he says, can come from booking a band that’s popular or from patrons who happen to “like the bar, or they wanna play Jenga or whatever on the patio or some- thing.” The second kind is ticketed shows, usu- ally with established original artists or trib- ute acts. Somebody’s Darling is one of the great Dallas-famous bands, more successful in its hometown than on the internet. “Like that to a T,” he says. “Like we would sell some tickets in Austin, San Anto- nio, maybe Lubbock. But DFW was kind of the one spot where we could actually sell 400 tickets or so.” Other bands that have reunited in the past few years have sort of been “grandfa- thered in” with large local followings from the Y2K days of loyal fandom: Black Tie Dy- nasty, Jibe, Flickerstick. The newer original artist scene in DFW contains rare jewels sparkling in plain sight. Young Dean, MATTIE, Jacks Haupt, Cody Lynn Boyd, Revólvers, and Labretta Suede & the Motel 6 are just a few among a crop of newer acts that would probably pass Liles’ test for originality. Ponder has worked and played all over and says Dallas is one of the best cities for musicians, but the members of Somebody’s Darling kept their day jobs even with their local success. “It depends on how you define success,” he says. “When I started Somebody’s Dar- ling with Amber Farris [in 2007] … Mike Brooks David Ponder says Texans love blues guitar soloists for booking, also country bands. >> p26
