hey

i just found a place that has posted the original "Praying Mantis" video by my friend Howard Libov...i hadn't seen it in a while & all i can really say is "What a mullet!"...

http://www.veoh.com/collection/Don-Dixon-Music-Videos/watch/v165982595QsHCs92#

enjoy...

'morning people

thanks to all of you who attended the show Saturday...& thanks to all of you that participated in it...i had a wonderful time & it meant a lot to me to see so many familiar faces & hear so many familiar voices, on & off stage...i know many of you out there wanted to come but couldn't make it...

each morning i wake up & as the hush of sleep falls away i begin to hear little noises...then i open my eyes...i look at my left hand & flex it, then my right...i say to myself, "my hands work...it's going to be a good day"...

when i opened my eyes at ROBERT KIRKLAND's house last Saturday morning, one of my hands didn't want to wake up but slowly it came to life & began to move...so Saturday was a good day, my hands worked, i was surrounded by friends, some of whom i don't get to be with enough & the energy in the CAROLINA THEATER was beautiful & positive...what more can anyone ask for?

we all need to admit that 40 years is a long time...the one's of us that are still here need to appreciate how lucky we are & remember the friends that didn't make it this long...

every cliche you ever heard is true...that's the irritating thing about cliches...love each other...live in the moment...remember the good stuff & throw out the bad...

thanks for everything each of you have done to enrich my life...

the REM Tribute at Carnegie Hall on 11 March 09 was a delightful evening...

my friends, The dBs (Will Rigby, Gene Holder, Chris Stamey & Peter Holsapple) invited Jane Scarpantoni & me to join them on the song "Fall on Me"...it was an interesting night full of people i knew & didn't know & should have known all singing an REM number of their own choosing...i think most of the performers, including myself, had never played on the hallowed main stage at this beautiful monument to the musical arts on 57th & Seventh Avenue so we were all a bit humbled...Peter, Mike, Michael & REM manager Bertis Downs were genial & appreciative casually visiting the dressing rooms of each participant...along with Patti Smith, they rocked the house with "E-bow the Letter" & then went to the after party (held at promoter Michael Dorf's downtown City Winery) & hung 'til the wee hours...i did not...i was playing the next night, opening for Peter & Chris down in NJ...i've been a little under the weather & at midnight i turned abruptly from rockstar into a ragged houseboy astride a pumpkin & hauled myself to bed...

but before that, backstage at the show, i had a nice time visiting with a number of old friends like Marshall Crenshaw, David Mansfield & WFUV 's Rita Houston, the evening's voice from behind the curtain...i also met some younger folks i'd never had the chance to meet...i was also struck by how friendly & helpful the union stage crew was...everything had been very pleasant but as i stood backstage talking to Darius Rucker about his new career in the world of country, it hit me...i really realized where we were...i've known Darius since he was quite young & Hootie was still opening for me...i looked at him & said, "Can you believe it? Two hayseeds from South Carolina standing here backstage at Carnegie Hall. What were the chances." Darius just smiled & slowly shook his head...

you never know what life is going to bring & i refuse to take any moment for granted...i'm not interested in the hype or glamour but i am interested in the timeline...being part of an ongoing history of music...in our dressing room was a framed photo of Sibelius...it was from his latter days...he looked quite stern & was shaved bald just like Holsapple & me...under the photo was a small fragment, the first two bars i think, of "Finlandia" hand written by him in the key of A flat...i found it quite comforting that he could shamelessly refer to the song that he was most famous for with pride & flair...the difference between him & a pop personality was reduced & we appeared in my mind on a larger more egalitarian timeline...i could easily imagine a framed photo of Michael Stipe on that wall too with a small square of paper under his picture, scrawled in pencil :

"calling all in transit, radio free europe"

after years of revising & editing, i've finally found someone to publish my word book...Judi & Marcus at VanZeno Press have been working with me over the last several months to create "Songs 101"...it's a book of one hundred & one collected lyrics to songs i have written over the last thirty-odd years, edited to read rather than follow along with as you listen to the music...

as many of you know, i've never included words to songs in the graphics of my albums because i believe that one should experience music & words together to comprehend the full sense of a song in its intended context...mingled inextricably together...that being said, there is a time for clarity & now seems to be that time for me...

so, any of you interested in this book can feel free to contact me directly or find it in any of the delightful online book stores in this, the Golden Age of Online Shopping...it could be a few months 'til it hits the virtual shelves but in the spring, i plan to come to a handful of select cities to sing & talk about it...i'll try to come up with an interesting presentation...

i've never talked about him in an interview...i've never cited him as an influence...but i saw THE FOUR TOPS four times between 1965 & 1968...they were one of the most dynamic & powerful groups i ever heard & i went to shows of all the Motown stable from that era...SMOKEY, STEVIE, THE TEMPS, THE SUPREMES, JUNIOR WALKER...i never saw LEVI phone one in....he worked the crowd like he was at his own wedding reception...he brought kids, little kids, up on stage to dance with him...the only person i ever saw that came close to the energy & enthusiasm of LEVI was BRENTON WOOD & BRENTON's show was slicker, more LA, not the absolute lowdown gospel-tinged wailing of THE TOPS...

i know the words & phrasing to all THE TOPS hits...i realize now that LEVI had a tremendous influence on my attack & phrasing...

it sucks when it takes someone's death to make you think about them...& he was only 72...seemed old to me when i was young, doesn't now...i still want to be singing at 72...

'morning all

i'm out playing a few shows this week, so taking a shower just now, i was thinking about how great a singer PAUL RODGERS is...then i thought of another singer i love, PAUL CARRACK...& that made me think of PAUL McCARTNEY...these are among my favorite singers of "The Rock"...all Engllish, all Paul...i can't think of three other white contempoaries that have had as much of an influence on me...what gives?

does the name "PAUL" have mystic properties?

i'm feeling slow this morning...help me...are there other single names that have spawned multiple singers?