Cantonite Don Dixon
Famous Without the Fame

Musician, songwriter, and producer Don Dixon is satisfied, “I play on records and record on records and I sing for people. That’s all I’ve ever done. I’m not complaining”. The laid back Dixon forged a steady career starting with early critical acclaim in North Carolina’s seminal rock band, Arrogance and going on to produce records for the Smithereens, James McMurtry, REM, and local artist Chris Allen and his former band, rosavelt. Additionally he’s put out eight solo records for the better part of the past 30-years. The aforementioned national bands reached a notable amount of success, but Dixon never wanted the fame for himself. Sure he admits, “Every song I’ve ever recorded, every record I’ve ever made I fully intended to be the number one record in the entire world,” but his own songs never hit the Billboard Top Ten.

Again, no complaints, “The fame part is the most irritating aspect of show business.” Admitting, “My time to get stupidly famous was back in the late 70’s with Arrogance.” The uncompromising Dixon goes on to say, “Some of it was our resistance to do some of the things sometimes they wanted us to do.” For a man who ducked the fame part of being famous, Dixon considers himself pretty lucky. “I’m sort of at an interesting level of notoriety where I don’t have to worry about too much, but most people will return my calls that I need to talk to… so it’s kind of nice actually.”, he states in his homey southern tone. His career allows Dixon to live a comfortable life with his wife and youngest daughter in Canton, Ohio; complete with integrity intact.

Living without the fame allows Dixon luxuries like taking the interview from a local Borders during an afternoon out with his wife and friends. He enjoys living in the area and has felt comfortable here since his first visits with his wife’s family. Little is said about Dixon, without mentioning of his wife, the critically acclaimed singer Marti Jones, or as he affectionately calls her, Miss Jones. The couple has collaborated on much of her solo work and Dixon anticipates she will take the stage on Thursday, June 7 at the Lakewood’s Winchester and Akron’s Lime Spider the following night, as he performs with his long-time friends and band mates, Jamie Hoover and Jim Brock as the Jump Rabbits. Always the southern-gentleman, Dixon coyly adds “we’re not pretending like she’s got to actually carry the show.”

The other two Jump Rabbits have credentials equal to Dixon’s body of work. Also hailing from North Carolina, Hoover has performed his own work in both the Van Deleckis and Spongetones. He has toured in bands for Graham Parker, the Smithereens, and Hootie and the Blowfish. Brock, a celebrated drummer, has performed and recorded with some of the best in rock, country, R&B and jazz. He was worked with Joe Walsh, Marshall Crenshaw, Lonnie Mack, Janis Ian, and Kathy Mattea. Both Hoover and Brock have also toured with Dixon and Jones in various combinations. The three men, who’ve played together in other bands and various configurations, finally decided to put out a record and do a few shows on the road. Hoover named the band the Jump Rabbits, taking the line from Dixon’s best of collection If I’m A Ham, Well You’re A Sausage. The tracks include tape recorded conversations between the Dixon children put down for posterity when their father brought home a tape recorder for a week. One snippet has Dixon’s sister calling him a “little jump rabbit.” He says some fans have remembered the segment and get a kick out of the name. The Jump Rabbits have never played the Cleveland area together as trio and Dixon is happy to have “this band I love so much” here in town before they finish work on the upcoming record.

While the Cleveland and Akron shows are focused on the Jump Rabbits, Dixon has also been on a solo tour for his latest release The Entire Combustible World in One Small Room. The title is taken from a W.B. Yeats poem which Dixon adapted to fit the framework of the thematic record. After being on hiatus from songwriting for several years, he received an assignment from his middle daughter which led to three songs. After looking them over, he realized “they were all three very clearly and specifically about rooms. And a room was like a real serious character, so it just sort of gave me like a form of something I could think about.” Dixon saw the power in all these rooms and started to explore the idea of the energy in various rooms and their individual presence. The result is the 11 songs making up the new album, including tracks on the ICU and hotel rooms.

A self-described “old man”, Dixon talks about songwriting and the new-found importance for him to connect to his work. “I will sing just about anything, but I don’t want to have to have written just about anything”, he continued, “It’s harder for me to sing something now that I’m old that I don’t have some sort of real connection to if I’m the writer. In my grown up life I’ve sort of understood it better. It’s important if I’m happy with what I’m saying.” When asked about melding his skills as both a producer and a songwriter, Dixon took pause before answering, “I’ve always heard things kind of in a very completed way. I’ll hear this thing kind of completed; kind of the way I want it. At least sounding the way I want it to sound as I’m sort of figuring it out”. He describes his strength as a producer as having the ability to work with bands and help them see the all the options to “walk around the problem or show them some different ways to approach it. I’m always looking for the combination of sounds that work.”

And as Dixon’s proved throughout his steady career his combination and options have worked out just fine.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Christine Young itsmecayATvisn.net
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