Art and Music

First-time benefit concert asks Deep Ellum to rock out for human rights

A vital Dallas nonprofit is hosting a first-time fundraiser in Deep Ellum that combines what that neighborhood loves most: art and music. Held November 5 at Life in Deep Ellum, Rock Your Heart Out is an art auction and concert that benefits Dallas-based Human Rights Initiative (HRI), which is dedicated to helping immigrants find new lives in North Texas by offering free legal representation to immigrant survivors of human rights abuses.

Proceeds from Rock Your Heart Out help both children and adults served by HRI.

“We have asylum seekers who are here because of their religion, gender, or pro-democracy beliefs, and their life is no longer tenable back in their county. And we also have torture survivors,” says HRI executive director Bill Holston.

“The advantage for our country is that people in those circumstances are coming because they are attracted to our values,” Holston says. “They know what it’s like to live in a place without freedom of religion or expression, and they hold American ideals in very high regard.”

Rock Your Heart Out pairs seven local artists with former HRI clients. Each of these artists — through ceramics, paintings, and photography — are creating a narrative that documents the client’s path to safety, liberty, and opportunity. The pieces will be installed at Life in Deep Ellum for the Rock

Your Heart Out event, and event attendees and online followers will have the opportunity to bid on the art throughout the evening.

Participating artists include Sheryl Anaya, Chris Bingham, Kelly Clemons, Dylan Hollingsworth, Erin and Steve Reeves, and Richard Ross.

“The plight of refugees is close to my heart because I’ve spent time in some of the countries and places they’re having to leave,” says Hollingsworth. “I’m a little more sympathetic, having seen the conditions and circumstances these folks are fleeing.

“Getting the opportunity as artists to relay these stories and [give an] identity beyond just ‘refugee’ can open people’s minds and hearts to their humanity.”

The event also includes musical performances by Salim Nourallah with Treefort 5, Xuan, Cantina, and Ronnie Fauss.

Nourallah got involved with HRI a few years ago when he played another fundraising event. “It doesn’t matter whether you swing right or left, this is about compassion and helping people in need,” he says.

Rock Your Heart Out runs 7-11 pm at Life in Deep Ellum. VIP tickets are $100 and include open bar, hors d’oeuvre, valet parking, access to the VIP seating area, and a concert T-shirt. General admission tickets, which include beer and wine, are $35.

Rock Your Heart Out art benefit and concert is November 5 at Life in Deep Ellum.

Photo by MakeShift Photography

Rock Your Heart Out art benefit and concert is November 5 at Life in Deep Ellum.

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RIP Mark

Colorful Dallas musician and DJ Mark Ridlen passes away at 65

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Mark Ridlen RIP

A bright and colorful light in Dallas' music scene went out: Mark Ridlen, DJ and musician, passed away on November 17, following a bout with cancer; he was 65.

From his appearance in Ron Howard’s 1978 directorial debut, Cotton Candy, to his groups Quad Pi, Lithium X-mas, and a plethora of side projects with scores of DFW musicians, to his full-time job as a professional DJ under the moniker "DJ Mr. Rid," Ridlen had been a steady staple on the local creative scene.

He surfed pretty much every musical wave: from Dallas' epochal dance music scene in the early 80s, to punk rock to his role as one of Dallas' top DJs — the guy you called when you wanted your event to be cool and fun.

Ridlen had been quietly battling kidney and lung cancer for the past three years. Over the summer, he had his second kidney removed, which meant he was on dialysis treatment a couple times a week.

He remained upbeat, but according to friends of the family, two more tumors were recently found in his brain. His family and friends decided to forego further treatment and were by his side when he died.

He remained in demand until his passing. In May, he DJed a party at the Kessler Theater, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Starck Club, the legendary '80s dance music club designed by Philippe Starck, which had a huge influence on Dallas, and which Ridlen was part of.

He was invited to DJ at the Starck Club when it opened in 1984 and remained in that role until the club closed in 1989.

Reid mark ridlen Mark Ridlen (right) with close friend Reid RobiinsonFacebook

From there, he migrated to Expo Park, the underground neighborhood across from Fair Park where art and music ruled. His stints at XPO Lounge, Double Wide, and other neighborhood venues made him a staple in the community.

At the same time, he was a member of Lithium Xmas, a psychedelic art-rock band which he formed with acclaimed musicians Chris Merlick and Greg Synodis.

He was also a pop culture savant with a comprehensive knowledge of music, who balanced a low-key charm with a vibrant sense of style, able to carry off shirts with colorful pop-art flowers and flashy sequinned jackets with panache.

In August, a large circle of musicians and friends rallied to participate in a benefit, to help pay for his medical costs — a sweet indication of the high regard in which he was held.

“I do want people to know that I am not being slowed down by cancer,” Ridlen said at the time. “I'm ready to continue working. I have more-or-less a clean bill of health for the moment, and hopefully that doesn't change.”

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