Chris Penn’s Memorial: Alex Montenegro, Joshua Ray Walker, Rhett Miller and More Celebrate His Life

On a cloudy Thursday, May 15, the pavilion at Old City Park hosted the official memorial for Good Records co-founder and fixture of the Dallas music scene, Chris Penn. Penn, beloved by many, died in April, after a monthlong stay in the ICU due to spinal injuries sustained in a fall. Penn was 54.

Several hundred Dallasites piled into the park for a program that included 10 speakers and three solo musical performances. The room was packed to the brim with essentially the entire Dallas arts community, all there to honor one of the most influential figures in its history.

Good Records employee Alex Montenegro began the program with a performance of “Teaching Elvis,” an original that she wrote in the wake of Penn’s injury. She was followed by fabled Dallas writer Robert Wilonsky, who gave a short introduction to the proceedings. The next five speakers included Penn’s personal friends, Chris “Rubberman” Neal and Matt “The Cat” Rose, each telling stories about Penn and donning nicknames given to them by him. Wyatt Parkins spoke on his time working closely with Penn at Good Records, leading to him opening his own shop, Saint Marie Records in Fort Worth.

Two of Penn’s favorite musicians made cameos as speakers. Tyler Trent, the drummer of Brainiac, a longtime Penn favorite, took the stage and recalled his first experience meeting and working with Penn when he booked a show for them in College Station. Brainiac performed at Good Records’ 24th anniversary party last year.

After that, Dennis Dunaway, bassist in the original Alice Cooper lineup, appeared via a prerecorded message alongside his wife, Cindy.

Next up, Joshua Ray Walker took the stage to perform “Thank You for Listening,” his emotional acoustic ballad that took on a whole new meaning. Penn’s oldest son, Oliver, shared a few funny anecdotes about growing up with his father, sandwiched between speeches by founding Tripping Daisy and Polyphonic Spree members Mark Pirro and Tim DeLaughter.

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Jennifer Penn, Chris’s wife, closed the spoken-word proceedings, delivering a touching address that was as much about music as it was about life.

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Rhett Miller of Old ’97s performed “Follow You Home” to close, a rarity to hear solo as the recorded version includes layered female backing vocals. Miller asked the crowd to sing along with him to the chorus, which served as the perfect transition from memorial programming to the food, drink, and, of course, live music reception to follow.

There was a certain hopefulness felt in the park that night. Despite gathering over difficult circumstances, the Dallas scene really became whole again, seeing everyone in the same place, at the same time, thinking the same things, will always be beautiful. The turnout was a testament to Penn’s overwhelming positive influence, proving that even in his wake, he’s still bringing people together.

Before the memorial, we asked dozens of Dallasites who knew Penn to send us a favorite story about him. These were some of their responses.

David Grover: “Chris Penn brought the hustle and hard work needed to elevate the Dallas music scene. He took chances. Definitely a pioneer, when it was very difficult to sell vinyl and CDs in the 2010s, he was thriving. He inspired countless others in DFW, including us. Rest in peace, Chris.”

Jeff Liles: “There is this video of Chris rolling out the pink Astroturf on the night before the big Homage Nation: Alice Cooper night at The Kessler Theater. Tripping Daisy was one of the many DFW bands who took part in that show, and they had so much fun that they decided to do a full-on pop-up Daisy show here the very next night. (It sold out in a matter of hours.) Chris was really given to moments of great inspiration, and this was one of those occasions. We’re going to miss those ‘anything can happen’ rock and roll spectacles.”

Natasha Malone: “When I moved to Dallas 13 years ago, I thought I was the biggest Alice Cooper fan in town. I was wrong. That title was already held by Chris.”

“I met Chris when he staged the most incredible Alice Cooper band reunion ever at Good Records in 2015. I even made it into his documentary about the event Live from the Astroturf. (I’m the crazy girl in the beginning with the horrified parents.)”

“From then on, Chris would jokingly call me his star. Every time I saw Chris, he would make something truly amazing happen. Just last year, Chris gave my band a spot on his Record Store Day lineup and in September, at an Alice Cooper show, he saw me and my bandmates in the crowd and got us backstage to meet the band. Literally every time I saw Chris, he made magic happen.”

“He was a hero in my life, and I hope that he knows that. I will always remember his kindness and support. I know he is rocking out with Glenn in heaven right now.”

Jeff Ryan: “I loved that CeePee referred to me as the Good Records drum tech. I always loved helping in any way. He did so much for everyone in our community. I just loved that he would lean on me for suggestions for bands for RSD events, backline drums for the store and randomly call me and say, ‘Wanna come down and cut a hole in this bass drum head for Tripping Daisy?’ Because he did so much for everyone else, I liked helping him out, and I always enjoyed our chats and will miss him for the rest of my days.”

Willy Landers: “One night I was getting ready to leave work around 8:30. Josh had stopped by to say hi. After talking for a bit, he said, ‘Hey, wanna see something cool?’ I followed him outside the shop and we walked a couple doors down to Good Records. The door was locked. He pulled out his phone and called someone. The door opened up, and there was Chris, and behind him, the Polyphonic Spree was rehearsing.”

“Chris offered us some Cheba Hut, and we watched Tim and everyone do their thing for a bit. It was such a cool experience. I didn’t know this, but Chris had invited Josh to come hang out. Josh wasn’t going out much at the time because he was doing chemotherapy. At one point he had mentioned he missed seeing live music, so Chris invited Josh to come hang. It was like a cool private show.”

Joshua Ray Walker: “Chris knew I was bummed that I couldn’t see live music during chemo and he invited me to watch the Polyphonic Spree rehearse at Good. He also helped me plan a drive-thru record release during COVID, and he gave me a place to showcase my weird piece of music I made for the eclipse last year. Chris was always down to help make any wacky idea come to life.”

John Dufilho: “Chris Penn was amazing and can never be replaced. He dreamed big and I was lucky to call him a friend. He’s helped me with my music more times than I could ever repay. He helped everyone! His opinion meant a lot to me, he really listened and was honest about how he felt.”

Austin Marc Graf: “Chris and I were setting up for the Tripping Daisy show at the Kessler, and we’d been grinding since 6 a.m., nonstop connecting, pivoting, hauling and sweating in the Texas heat.”

“By around 5:30 p.m., Chris was running on fumes and getting a little snappy. Totally understandable. We were both in black-on-black outfits, drenched, exhausted, and still not done.”

“So I slipped out without saying a word, hit a nearby store, and came back with a Starbucks energy drink and some spray-on deodorant. Emergency supplies. Because when you’re in all black in the middle of summer, deodorant isn’t a suggestion-it’s survival.”

“I tossed him the bag when I walked back in. He gave me this confused look, peeked inside, then lit up like a kid on Christmas. Dude was hyped-said I read his mind. He even had me take pictures of him with his little care package like it was a trophy.”

“Instant mood shift. He was grinning, joking, and way more relaxed as we geared up to open the doors. Long story short: he smelled better, felt better, and we ended up side by side in the pit filming Tim. We were all happy that night.”

Barley Vogel (partner of late 14 Records owner, Bucks Burnett): “Bucks always came home with a new CP story. He absolutely worshipped Chris Penn, his ‘competitor.’ We laughed about the competitor thing, as it was obvious that Good and 14 were the perfect record store neighbor combo from the get-go.”

“Their stores positioned adjacent wasn’t planned, but when the Garland Road space became available, we knew it was a great energy match. Bucks found in Chris a younger version of himself with the abject hutzpah it took to pull off such ‘producer’ games and hat tricks. Bucks elevated it to an art form, and from where I sit, I was mentoring Chris into some advanced mastery. Bucks would have been absolutely inconsolable losing Chris.”

Jason Janik: “I’ve known Chris since the mid-to-late ’90s. Like most people, I have many mundane memories due to our sheer volume of interactions over four different decades.”

“When I look through our miles and miles of texts, it’s just stuff about a pair of Technics turntables or Klipsch speakers he needed me to refurbish. Or connecting him with Sarah Hepola for a DMN story about Tim’s planetarium experience. Or aligning schedules so I could loan him my DJ gear for a New Year’s Eve event he and Tim were doing. Or any number of shows he said I ‘shouldn’t miss’ and set me up with photo/media access.”

“I mention all the mundane moments because they really help accentuate the truly beautiful moments in between.”

“I remember being in the pit when Tripping Daisy reunited for their first Homegrown Fest. I looked over and saw him smiling, practically floating. He looked like he was a teenager attending his very first concert. I remember him telling me how excited he was to be following Braniac on tour for several shows. He was so insanely giddy, you’d think he was a tween going to see Taylor Swift. I remember his huge smile as he played drums on stage with friends at the end of a Record Store Day event. He knew he was no musician, but he loved the experience nonetheless. It’s that smile and spark that I remember. I saw it countless times because he had such a sincere passion for music.”

“Over those years, Chris went from being a music industry connection to a friend and from a friend to someone who felt like family. I can’t even count the number of times we’d look at each other and just nod, like, ‘We are here experiencing this music moment, and nothing could make this moment better.’ Especially, over the last several years, as we’d talk about our kids growing up, us getting older, all the changes we’ve experienced in the music industry. We both connected, knowing how lucky we’ve been in life. Someone else will set me up with photo passes, Good Records will still send vintage audio repairs my way and Tim may occasionally need to borrow my DJ mixer. Even if that stuff never happened again, it’s not the mundane stuff that matters. It’s that classic CP nod, that iconic smile, and that childlike excitement for music that I’ll miss.”

“On April 24, I spotted a custom school bus at a swap meet I was attending. It stood out like a giant spotlight was focused on the words painted on the back door. It said, ‘School’s Out Forever.’ I immediately thought of Chris and his love of Alice Cooper. About two hours later, Chris’ passing was announced online. I feel like it was him smiling and nodding one last time.”

Tami Thomsen: “Still trying to wrap my head around the loss of Chris. Just a few weeks ago, at the Longhorn Jubilee, he was trying to convince me to bring a pony on stage during Polyphonic’s set and do it without telling Tim first. Classic Chris. A little mischief. Mixed with a lot of magic.”

“Every time he called, I answered, bracing myself for whatever crazy idea was coming next. And I always said ‘yes’ because I knew it was going to end up happening no matter what I said.”

“Chris didn’t just support the music scene; he was the scene. His energy could fill a room or a venue, and it filled our city. Thank God for Chris Penn, and thanks for everything.”