Dallas Sounds Amplified Artist Showcase Aims to Highlight All Local Acts in Busking Program

The participating artists for Dallas Sounds Amplified will offer a glimpse of what the busking program’s diverse music scene has to offer during a free concert at Club Dada.

On May 28, the Dallas Music Office will host a special Dallas Sounds Amplified Artist Showcase in collaboration with Spune and Mullen & Mullen Music Project. Club Dada is the place to be on Wednesday, with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. 17 artists will perform starting at 6 p.m., and each will have a 15-minute set.

The featured artists are Carly Tate, Sam Cormier, Gracen Wynn, MKN Coffee, Dev Wulf, Luke Herbert, Carson Lewis, Alexandra, Leslie Austin, The Blue Line, Going Places, Caleb Dean, McKenzie Brown, Erfan Ebadipour, William Fitzgerald, Katherine Paterson and Wang Taylor.

On Jan. 22, the Dallas Music Office announced the city’s first-ever busking initiative and professional development program to add a new soundtrack to our downtown streets. In public spaces where downtown visitors and workers commute, the goal is to strengthen the message that Dallas is a “music-friendly city.”

Overseen by Kristina Kirkenaer-Hart, director of the Dallas Music Office, it is part of her vision for drawing in Dallasites and tourists alike to our vibrant music scene and dynamic community. The musicians selected for the program are performing in downtown Dallas, but there are plans to expand to Deep Ellum this fall.

The initiative was inspired by New York City’s Music Under New York program, which enhanced the transit environment for customers. After these artists went through an audition process, they were assigned specific locations and times throughout downtown where they could perform for legal tips. In these unexpected spaces, the artists were in front of different audiences and businesses, growing their visibility.

Solo artist, actor and songwriter Caleb Dean, who grew up in Dallas and returned to the city after living in Waco, describes his audition process at House of Blues as “a little intimidating.”

“Having done this for a while, I expected myself to be less affected by it,” he says.

After telling the judges he sang mostly slow songs, he was challenged to play a fast song in front of the judges.

“There were like, ‘Can you give us a fast song?’ And I just blanked on every fast song I ever known in my life. That was a little embarrassing. It was a friendly audition process. Pretty smooth and cool,” he says.

Since then, he has been a regular performer at Klyde Warren Park, Pegasus Plaza and Main Street Garden Park.

“You just never know who you’re gonna come in contact with when you’re out playing in the streets,” Dean says. “From random people who could give you a boost in your career to, like, the other day I was playing in Klyde Warren, and there were a bunch of kids playing around in the water. They saw me with a guitar and they just stopped, ‘You’re gonna do a show?’ And they just stopped everything to listen to me play.”

“I mean, I only had their attention for half of a song, but it was a lot of fun to meet all the different people and make those connections,” he says.

Dallas is not a walking city like NYC. To offset lower tips, these artists are able to get paid gigs and other gigs through a promoting directory, where they can play corporate and public gigs. They also get opportunities to play in clubs and bars around town, building the discovery of Dallas nightlife.

In addition to performance spots, they also receive artist development services, which range from one-on-one sessions with producers to networking events and marketing and branding training. 

“I meet a lot of interesting people, and it really depends upon the location you’re at,” Dean says. “I feel like you meet very different types of people at each location. It’s pretty consistent, at every spot you go to, there will be at least one person that sticks around and you have a conversation with. I don’t know if they fully turn into fans but we at least build some sort of relationship with those people.”

Dean shares that during his Klyde Warren performance, a woman and her friend watched him perform longer than most people. “She posted me on her [Instagram] Story, I found out after the fact that she’s pretty famous. It was a wild experience,” he says.

In our previous story on the busking program in March, Remy Reilly, who participated in the pilot program and served as a judge for this year’s busking talent pool, also valued connecting with people from all walks of life. “I actually met DART workers,” she says. “I met people who are actively making Dallas better. … It was cool to see the inner workings of the city, to sit outside in the middle of downtown Dallas. I’m always there at night and not really taking in the city. It was an opportunity to see the city in real-time during the day.”

For the evening showcase, Dean, who has done open mics in Dallas, is preparing by treating it like it's his ritual, honing his abilities to speak with the crowd and polishing his songs.

“I don’t think there’s literally any other way to prepare for singing on a stage outside of just singing on a stage,” he says. “Once you get up there and the nerves hit, there is no way to replicate that. You just have to get used to it and figure it out up there.”

While Dean is still deciding his set list, he plans on performing a song called “Off.” He says he does pop and R&B, recently shifting to folk influences.

“I’m super grateful for the program and the Dallas Music Office for putting it on,” Dean says, thanking “all the sponsors that have helped make this thing possible.”

You can RSVP for the show here.