Want to paint a weird path to Nashville? Go to your map and find Fayetteville, NC; draw a line to Denver, over to Boston and finally to Music City.That would be DILLON DIXON's path from the birthplace to where he grew up on to the home of his higher education; then the final destination. The winding road taken goes a long way to explain how Sting & Nat King Cole blend flawlessly with George Strait & Vince Gill.
Songwriting wasn't Dillons first choice as a vocation. Nope. He played drums. First in a garage band optimistically named Wanted where they painted their faces like Kiss. As the call of the wild (young ladies) yelled in his ear, he slipped out from behind the drum kit as he progressed through bands. By the time he got through the lauded Berklee School of Music, his Professional Music degree sported an emphasis in vocal performance.
Nashville and songwriting were still more than just miles away. In Dillon's case it was miles shredded playing his guitar on a folk circuit. As he recalls, I had played James Taylor songs for years and loved it. Then one day I heard this guy Vince Gill. It was like the neon sign came on. The music was real and honest in a way that moved me. I suddenly heard James Taylor and lots of other influences in a new way. I think that day I really started writing songs honestly.
Writing meant having something to say. He found plenty to say as he pursued the Folky/Cocktail Hour Warrior track where the guitarist/singer is competing with drinks drank, chatter chatting and attention waning. Dillon figured if one can learn how to entertain & hold the attention of the gathered throng in this fog without the benefit of a hit, it would be a cakewalk with hits. Moreover, if some of those hits were the product of his pen, heart & soul, they could have an impact that true-to-the-hue renditions of anyone else's songs could never have. He learned that reaching out and touching someone starts with the unmistakable look in your eyes of knowing of what you speak. Interesting how the eyes are connected to the heart, brain and soul right there.
Once baptized in the charming honesty had been shown by Vince Gill & George Strait imbued along the way by the guitar virtuosity of George Benson being melted into Steve Wariner, the road finally led to Nashville. Arriving in this New Mecca in 1995, his clear & abundant talent began opening doors. It didnt hurt that his naturally extroverted personality had been honed by years of being worked by the room in the din of cocktail hour after hour.
Within months he was in the crosshairs of EMI Music, signing a writers deal. It was here he scored his first cut with country icon George Jones.
After three years of growth, Dillon moved on to Warner-Chappell Music. In addition to the writing deal came an artist production deal creating a group called Sky. Teamed with two other singer/songwriters including then-future writing star D. Vincent Williams (I'm Movin' On) & Bill Austin, the group began forging its sound and songs under an RCA development deal. Unfortunately it didn't strike pay dirt before the challenges and changes that often beset a group & label were resolved.
Dillon recalls, Sometimes you have to find yourself in a crowd. David and Bill were just amazingly talented. We were a unique blend of voices, talents and personalities. It was a post-graduate course in how the business really works.
During this period he co-wrote the Steve Holy single, Put Your Best Dress On.
Moving on from Warner-Chappell, he signed a publishing deal with upstart Ash Street Music in January, 2003. While the original intent was to focus on his songwriting talents for the Nashville market, he began to land tracks in motion pictures including "Open To Me" from Terminator 3. He has also landed tracks in Scream, The Crow 3, Dracula 2000, Flight Of The Phoenix, and the Wes Craven film, Cursed.
It has always been a musical landscape that challenged the Berklee grad. Dillon explains, When you are trying to write something for a movie, you have to be totally immersed in the emotion of the scene to reflect it musically. Since I think life is one big movie, it wasn't a huge stretchjust focusing on a very intense moment in a bigger picture. I think that's what all of songwriting is really about.
Dillon is currently writing for Amylase Entertainment in Nashville. Josh Gracin and Rodney Atkins have just recently recorded songs penned by Dillon for their upcoming releases. Ambitiously, the hits WILL keep coming.As a Nashville resident, Dillon has found his home. Denver calls from time to time, however, the honesty within his myriad of creative integrity keeps him grounded amidst the Kudzu and Southern hospitality. It is reflected within his acoustic prowess. A crisp, clear and pure voice that demands a listeners attention without asking.
A student of life; a student of how to express that life; a singer and writer of lifes pictures with the life-tempered passion Dillon possesses is rare. That weird path we first considered has proven a trip worth taking.
Especially when this music is the destination.
I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)