Deep Ellum People: Big Tuck
Photo Credit: Breonny Lee BY Taylor Adams Cogan When Big Tuck marked 20 years of his album Purple Hulk in 2024, he started a tour in no other place than Dallas, in no other neighborhood than Deep Ellum. The show at Club Dada featured the work of the Dallas rap legend who has been a […]
Deep Ellum People: Billy Jack Gunter
Photo Credit: Breonny Lee BY Taylor Adams Cogan When Billy Jack Gunter came to Dallas by way Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 2003, quickly falling in love with a neighborhood where he never thought he’d be able to keep pursuing his art. “I came to Dallas to hang out for a week, and I went to […]
Deep Ellum People: Gavin Mulloy
Photo Credit: Breonny Lee BY Taylor Adams Cogan It’s easy to take the sounds of Deep Ellum for granted when you’re walking its streets so often. Sure, we may follow the musician on Instagram after stumbling onto them on an Elm Street stage, or tip the bartender extra for being so fast and kind with […]
Deep Ellum People: Imani Black
Photo Credit: Breonny Lee BY Taylor Adams Cogan For Imani Black as a daughter, loving Dallas came naturally — with parents who adored the city (and its football team). For Imani Black as an artist, Deep Ellum kept drawing her back, helping her hone her craft and making her feel at home. Her gateway to […]
Deep Ellum People: Skyler Chilton & Scarlett McPherson
Photo by: Breonny Lee BY Taylor Adams Cogan The right guitar riff paired with a powerful voice, especially from women, has the power to be incendiary. It’s a feeling Dallas audiences experience when they hear King Clam, a band fueled by this combination. Just a few years ago, Skyler Chilton and Scarlett McPherson were both […]
Deep Ellum People: Mary Gonzalez
BY Taylor Adams Cogan It’s no secret that Deep Ellum has historically been filled with artists. But artistry here goes beyond music and murals. For Mary Gonzalez, her art is hair. Since planting her roots in a then-quiet Deep Ellum nearly two decades ago, Gonzalez has watched the neighborhood evolve alongside her craft. “In 2008, […]
Deep Ellum People: Casey Hess
BY Taylor Adams Cogan When Casey Hess first went to Deep Ellum, the then-teenager sported a plaid long-sleeved shirt over a Course of Empire band T-shirt, complete with a “hippie necklace thing,” super long hair, and probably some leggings, he says. He knew Deep Ellum was the music scene he was looking for; what he […]
Deep Ellum People: Sandy & Pedro Rojas
BY Taylor Adams Cogan These days, it’s a rare delight to see a marriage last decades. In Dallas, it’s remarkable to see a restaurant survive longer than three years. For Sandy and Pedro Rojas, they’ve been able to achieve both. Married for 38 years, they’ve also run their Deep Ellum restaurant, Pepe’s & Mito’s, for […]
Women Take the Lead at Nonprofits Dedicated to Deep Ellum
For the first time, all of the nonprofits dedicated to Deep Ellum’s history, community and future are now helmed by women. There’s a lot of good happening in the Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas from the work of residents to generous businesses. Much of the good work comes from nonprofits, many of which are led […]
Meet Alonzo Grape: Deep Ellum’s Lead Homeless Outreach Caseworker
If you talk to Alonzo Grape about his job, he will make one thing clear: “I’m not working with homeless people, I’m dealing with people experiencing homelessness.” For Grape, the hours he spends weekly in Deep Ellum are about connecting people. For the 347 people in the neighborhood he worked with last year, it was […]