Faith Thompson
Audio By Carbonatix
Longtime Dallas performer Dezi 5 hasn’t had a day off in years. Though he’s been a fixture in the North Texas music scene for nearly two decades, Dezi, whose real name is Dezman Lehman, is hard at work solidifying his legacy.
In late 2023, he launched the inaugural Dallas Entertainment Awards (DEAs). Soon after, he released his long-awaited album, Dirty Laundry. Since then, Dezi has rarely taken a second to breathe. The DEAs celebrated a third year in February, honoring the best of the city’s local arts, music and media. Between already planning next year’s award ceremony and working on new music, he’s somehow found time to produce the Texas Soul Revue, a two-night concert event in Deep Ellum this weekend.
The Texas Soul Revue will present at Three Links on April 3 and Double Wide on April 4. Headlined by Dezi, the lineup will also feature Quentin Moore, Cayuga All Stars, Lew Apollo, and Larry G(ee). To help celebrate the revue, Dezi will perform new music, including a country ballad called “Peaceful Man.” In the single, which will be officially released on Friday, April 3, he emphasizes the importance of community and support, saying there’s never been a better time for the song. “When everybody gets along, life is nothing but song,” he sings in the bridge. Though it feels timely amid current events, Dezi actually wrote the song during the Obama years.
“I put it in the vault because [at the time] I was like, ‘I’m doing a different type of music. This is not going to work for what I’m trying to do,’” he tells the Observer. “Of course, all artists always search their vault. I immediately went to ‘Peaceful Man.’ Considering what we’re going through, this was right at the time [when] we were starting to go to war, and Mercury was in retrograde. So this is just the perfect time. I took the music and revamped it, added some steel panel to it, and made it more constructed to what I’m doing today.”
Dezi is the sole writer and producer of his newest single, and says it’s a taste of the next album he’s working on. But don’t expect a full project in the near future. As the timeline for “Peaceful Man” from conception to release suggests, he takes his time with his music.
Longtime fans of Dezi know that he’s never afraid to switch things up. His debut EP, Crucifixion on the Dance Floor, was inspired by sweaty nights in the Brooklyn club scene. Dirty Laundry saw him deliver soulful R&B sounds. For his next chapter, he’s fine-tuning his craft within a multitude of genres and embracing his current stage of life.
“My music is growing with me,” Dezi says. “I’m 43, and I’m watching my music mature as I mature. Even the dialect, a lot of this music is about traveling, being peaceful and not wanting soldiers to go to war. It’s definitely where I’m at in my life.”
Can’t Slow Down
Throughout his artistic journey, he has learned that the universe’s timing tends to work out in his favor, presenting new and unlikely inspiration for projects at every turn. While working on video materials to promote the new single, Dezi stumbled upon “Save City Hall” posters, a recent initiative urging the city to repair the I. M. Pei-designed City Hall building instead of demolishing it.
Faith Thompson
“City Hall is amazing. It’s beautiful architecture,” Dezi says. “I really love the fact that that’s where we go to protest. We are the citizens, and our tax dollars pay for the City Hall… I took a little heart in that, and I decided to do my video at City Hall because, just in case they do tear it down, I wanted to have it in my archives. When I posted it, [an organization called] Save City Hall Dallas joined onto it. I got about six or seven architects who followed me and started inviting me to public events to discuss what we can do to try to save it. I’m still trying to figure out what we can do to save it. We started the Martin Luther King parade there. It’s just as important as Reunion Tower.”
While advocacy was added to his already full agenda, Dezi was in the planning stages of what would become the Texas Soul Revue, an idea that came to him “one hungover morning” at AllGood Cafe. As he was sitting at the bar drinking mimosas, he noticed several concert posters, including one for the Old 97’s, who, in the past, had performed a two-night stint in Deep Ellum — one night at Trees Dallas, and the next at Gypsy Tea Room.
After headlining a sold-out performance at the Kessler Theater last August, he decided to call up Three Links and Double Wide — two of his go-to venues — and plan a two-night series.
“It’s not uncommon for someone to do a show in the same area two nights in a row, but I decided to elevate it and try to repeat what the Old 97’s did,” he says. “I may not be on the level that they were, but it’s something for me to try, and it seems to be working out so far.”
Night one of the Texas Soul Revue will be at Three Links (2704 Elm St.). The show begins at 9 p.m. and will feature Quentin Moore, Cayuga All Stars and Dezi 5. Night two will be at Double Wide (3510 Commerce St.) at 10 p.m. Lew Apollo, Larry G(ee) and Dezi5 will play. Tickets for a single night are $25, and $40 for both.
