{"id":131842,"date":"2026-01-21T12:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T12:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/131842\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T12:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T12:34:09","slug":"the-north-texas-singer-inspired-by-the-cure-olivia-dean-and-my-little-pony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/131842\/","title":{"rendered":"The North Texas singer inspired by The Cure, Olivia Dean and … \u2018My Little Pony\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I scrolled through nominations<\/a> for the Dallas Entertainment Awards<\/a>, whose third annual ceremony takes place Feb. 4 at the Bomb Factory<\/a>, one name kept coming up: Remy Reilly. The sultry-voiced singer-songwriter has been a fixture in the local music scene for about a decade, which is quite an accomplishment, given that she\u2019s only 22. Buoyed by her recent song \u201cRicochet,\u201d an effervescent dance jam about a love gone flat, she landed five nominations, including artist of the year, best pop vocalist and best songwriter, a category where she\u2019s nominated alongside her \u201cRicochet\u201d producer\/songwriting partner, Josh Goode. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been nominated for that many things in my life,\u201d she said. (She won best pop vocalist and best Americana act last year<\/a>.) <\/p>\n

Reilly grew up around music. Her dad was a regional promoter for Disney\u2019s Hollywood Records, and by 12, she was playing open mics while kids in her Little Elm neighborhood headed to football games or school dances. She put out a self-titled EP when she was 14 and still in clear braces, and the songs had enough punch to earn her the 2018 Dallas Observer Music Award for best new act. A talented multi-instrumentalist who can play piano, guitar and drums, there is one skill she does not have. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the worst at parallel parking,\u201d she texted me on the afternoon we met at Merit Coffee Co. in Deep Ellum<\/a>, when she was slightly delayed by searching for a spot on the street. In person, Reilly is warm and self-deprecating and speaks with girlish enthusiasm about creative influences as disparate as \u201980s band The Cure and British singer-songwriter Olivia Dean and animated children\u2019s show My Little Pony, whose character Rainbow Dash inspired the multicolored logo she uses on her merch. \u201cNo one knows that,\u201d she said. \u201cI was too afraid to be a nerd about it.\u201d <\/p>\n

News Roundups<\/p>\n

Catch up on the day’s news you need to know.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

\""Deep<\/p>\n

“Deep Ellum feels like a family,” says North Texas singer Remy Reilly.<\/p>\n

Playful with her sound, which veers between Americana and pop, she likes to change up her hair, too. \u201cI just got this done,\u201d she said, pulling back the dyed burgundy locks near her face to reveal a layer of dyed orange underneath. <\/p>\n

She plans to spend most of 2026 working on her first full-length album. \u201cAs a kid, I didn\u2019t really know what I was doing,\u201d she said. \u201cSo this is exciting. I feel like this new album is gonna be me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Your first live performance was at 12. What do you remember about it? <\/p>\n

It was part of a Christmas show for my vocal studio, which took place in a plaza near a Starbucks. I sang \u201cLove Is Christmas\u201d by Sara Bareilles to an accompaniment track. I was super stiff! Like a popsicle stick. And I wouldn\u2019t look at anybody. But as soon as I was done, I went up to my mom and said, I can\u2019t wait to gig again. <\/p>\n

I loved the adrenaline rush. That was around the time my dad bought me a caj\u00f3n [box drum], and music started to click for me. My dad took me to open mics in Dallas, Frisco, Denton. We were going three or four times a week. I used to do \u201cStuck in the Middle With You\u201d by Stealers Wheel with a cowbell and my caj\u00f3n. At the end, I would hit the cowbell and drop the stick. I developed this whole bit. Looking back now, it\u2019s pretty cringy.<\/p>\n

The last several years of your life have unfolded onstage. Are there other parts that make you cringe?<\/p>\n

All the time! Even now. I\u2019ll get really animated onstage and say something stupid, but every time I come offstage, someone tells me it\u2019s endearing, that they appreciate the authenticity, or they like that I\u2019m a dork. I\u2019ve been called a dork so many times. <\/p>\n

I think people relate to it, because it comes from anxiety. I have a panic disorder. So my way of coping is being super energetic with people, very much the clown. I know when to tone it down and be professional, but I feel like the part of me that\u2019s goofy and loud is always going to be there. <\/p>\n

Which feels better: a good relationship or writing a good breakup song?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know what a good relationship is like, so I\u2019ll pick the breakup song. I haven\u2019t had a boyfriend in three years \u2014 for good reasons. I always tell men when I date them, I just want you to know you\u2019re probably not the priority right now. Every time I say that, I think maybe I shouldn\u2019t be dating. It\u2019s like, oh, I got a gig. Sorry, gotta go. I really want to make better decisions with men, so I\u2019m working toward healthier relationships, but I haven\u2019t experienced them. That\u2019s why all I write about is breakups. <\/p>\n

\"Remy<\/p>\n

Remy Reilly performs at TX Tea Room during the Deep Ellum Block Party in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n

Jason Janik \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

What represents Dallas at its best to you? <\/p>\n

Deep Ellum<\/a>. It\u2019s such a big connector, with music venues and art studios and photography studios and shops. I love when you\u2019re at a show, and there\u2019s all this nightlife around you, and you look up and see the whole downtown skyline. It feels like: This is Dallas.<\/p>\n

I think I\u2019ve played almost every venue in Deep Ellum. I\u2019m very proud that I can walk into these bars, and I know the owners. Deep Ellum feels like a family.<\/p>\n

Tex-Mex or BBQ, and where?<\/p>\n

Tex-Mex! People may be mad at me for this answer, because this is a chain, but I\u2019m always at Chuy\u2019s. That jalapeno ranch dip? I could drink it. I get the deluxe chicken enchiladas, and I literally pour the jalapeno ranch on my rice and beans. I\u2019m like, can I get another bowl of jalapeno ranch? I need two.<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/a>Hepola: Sports broadcaster Jake Kemp\u2019s rehab stint had a ripple effect \u2014 for listeners<\/a><\/p>\n

After the former Ticket personality and current \u201cDumb Zone\u201d host quit drinking, some middle-aged men in the Dallas area took it as their own wake-up call. <\/p>\n

\"Laterras<\/a>Hepola: A Dallas man wrote hundreds of letters to his future wife. Then he met her<\/a><\/p>\n

Laterras R. Whitfield became a viral sensation with his \u201cDear Future Wifey\u201d podcast. More than five years after its launch, he found his happy ending.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As I scrolled through nominations for the Dallas Entertainment Awards, whose third annual ceremony takes place Feb. 4…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[102,3949,320,12605,278,4661,27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-131842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-deep-ellum","10":"tag-food-and-drink","11":"tag-high-profile","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-pop-music","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-texas-headlines","16":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}