Jeff Liles at his Oak Cliff home, Thursday, March 24, 2016.
Guy Reynolds/Dallas Morning News
Countless concert promoters boost musicians’ careers. Far fewer wind up immortalized by one.
But that’s what happened to Jeff Liles, whose likeness is now cast in bronze, thanks to Edie Brickell, his longtime friend. The Oak Cliff-born singer commissioned a bust of a serious-looking Liles, resplendent in trademark dreadlocks, that was installed recently next to the Kessler Theater, the O.C. music hall where he’s artistic director.
“Honoring Jeff Liles and his heart full of dreams for the Dallas music scene,” reads the plaque in front of the head-and-shoulders sculpture. Liles was one of the scruffy impresarios who gave Brickell & New Bohemians their early Dallas gigs in the mid-’80s, booking them into the Theatre Gallery, Prophet Bar and Club Dada.
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“Jeff was a kid when we were kids playing in Deep Ellum. He treated us all as well as any nationally known touring band,” Brickell said Wednesday from Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, where she was about to perform with her husband, Paul Simon.
“And all through the years, he’s invited us to return and play at the Kessler. His belief in all of us has been an enduring gift.”
The bust of Jeff Liles outside the Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff.
Heather Ezell
Liles initially thought Brickell was kidding when she mentioned creating a bust of him a few months ago. Now that it’s done, he calls it “an incredible honor.”
But he also admits the whole thing is a bit surreal. “I hope people don’t think that I passed away or anything.”
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“On a personal level, Edie has always been like my guardian angel,” Liles said. “I won’t get into specifics, but she has either directly or indirectly saved my life more than once. She really has a sixth sense when it comes to that kind of thing.”
Artist Louie Zakarian, longtime head of the SNL makeup department, sculpted Liles’ likeness, which was cast in bronze by Pyrology Foundry in Bastrop. Kessler Theater owner Edwin Cabaniss donated the courtyard space, while Heather Ezell, Brickell’s friend, designed a fountain next to the bust.
“Since everybody loves a fountain, I wanted to make a fountain with a sculpture of Jeff,” Brickell said. “Also it makes the birds happy, so you’ll always hear singing around him.”
The plaque in front of the bust of Jeff Liles outside the Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff.
Heather Ezell
Liles has worn many hats over the years — writer, DJ, music-history raconteur and leader of the experimental hip-hop/electronic group Decadent Dub Team. But he’s always circled back to concert promotion. Today, he’s part of the team behind both the Kessler and the reborn Longhorn Ballroom — a role where he continues to champion local, Texas and national acts.
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“My life didn’t have much meaning until the day I stepped inside the Theatre Gallery for the first time in 1985,” he said. “But thanks to people like Edie and Edwin and Russell Hobbs, who gave me my first booking job, I feel lucky to have found a real sense of purpose in this community. What a privilege it’s been to help bring so much joy to so many people through the magic of live music.”
A fall dedication is planned, but visitors can see Liles’ mini-me now, next to the Kessler Theater at 1230 W. Davis St., Dallas.