By Taylor Adams Cogan
Some people snuck into Deep Ellum as teens with their friends. Others made their first trip there to see a band play. More spent long nights at late-night venues.
Scarlett Deering went to the neighborhood for music, too – but she was just a kid, and the musicians were her parents. Growing up in Oak Cliff with performing parents meant she’d see them play at spaces like Club Dada, Naomi’s, Chumley’s, and Main Street Pub. Her own skill and talent on the violin earned her a spot at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, keeping her connected to the neighborhood.
“I spent a lot of time going to rock shows at The Door and Trees, spending a lot of time as a young rocker trying to find trouble,” she says.
She found fun and, of course, some work. She believes the first time she performed in Deep Ellum was when she was in high school, playing for a folk festival at The Door.
Scarlett has been a professional musician since graduating from the University of North Texas, though her path has taken her far beyond Dallas. She spent a few years in Boston, then several in Nashville, before Dallas called her home again in 2018.
“I’ve played as much as I can down there. I ran an open mic at AllGood with Mike Snider and my dad for maybe a year and a half,” she says. “I play with a lot of different country bands and then occasionally get to do a fun rock gig. Every time I go back to Deep Ellum, I’m going back home.”
And yes, those rock gigs are still on the string instrument. Scarlett calls herself a violinist and fiddler, making the instrument bend and blend across genres. She brings it into rock songs, folk sets, and country shows – always finding new ways to make the music soar. Plus, she sings: She released her album There Is A Moon in 2017.
“It’s been really fascinating, honestly – either from being immersed in it or seeing it from afar when I was living in other cities,” she says. “It feels like Deep Ellum just rides this wave going up and down. Unfortunately, sometimes people become scared. I’ve never felt that way. I’ve always loved being down there.”
She remembers slower times in the neighborhood in the 1990s and early 2000s, so when she moved back from Nashville, she saw a revived and vibrant community.
“I saw that it had become alive again. People were putting in new restaurants, creating spaces for people to hang out outside, and having more welcoming areas. It’s been really exciting,” she says.
That made it easy for her to come back home, as did the community that runs through Deep Ellum. If you work at a bar, you know that bond among industry folks. If you’re a small business owner, you know the other owners — and you probably support each other from time to time. It’s no different in the music scene, Scarlett says.
“What I love about the scene now is it seems like there are a lot of core people that keep it alive,” she says. “I have friends who do residencies, playing every single week, or people hosting open mics. When me and my dad had to stop due to our schedules, we had another friend take it over. There’s a core group of musicians, and they’re from every genre. Everyone is so intent on keeping that culture alive — no matter what people’s fears are, no matter their concerns with parking — they’re always going to keep it going.”
She’s also continuing her family’s musical legacy in the same neighborhood where it began.
In fact, her parents’ very first open mic performance was at Club Dada in the 1980s, long before Scarlett was born. Since then, her dad has toured with LeAnn Rimes and the Eagles, and Scarlett found herself playing violin for the Eagles, too. She’s proud to carry that same family rhythm forward.
“I love that I’m able to help carry on this family’s tradition,” she says. “And I think that’s really important for anyone who’s involved — to try and pass it on.”
Scarlett still enjoys taking in as much live music as she can, whether it’s a stadium tour or a cramped club with sticky floors. But she continues to be pulled to the smaller venues that spill new sounds onto Deep Ellum’s streets. And what makes these spaces special goes beyond the bands on stage.
“When I left Nashville, I was so over the music scene there,” she says. “I felt like you had to be dressed a really specific way — a certain age group to be cool. You looked around, and everyone looked like a carbon copy of the person standing next to them. The first show I went to at Three Links — it was my first time in a couple of years — the first thing I noticed when I looked around was that it was everybody, all ages, and everyone was there seeing this loud, noisy rock band.
“For me then, it was like — this is why I love this so much.”
