From Tech Geek To Electric Violinist, Dixon's Emotional Awakening

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A Michigan-based musician who has spent months performing in St. Petersburg did a 180-degree career change after he attended a life-changing festival. From a career in technology, the national touring electric violinist, who prefers only to go by Dixon, radically changed his life.

He started playing the violin when he was 10 years old.

"I was curious about the violin, and the deal was, my parents said, 'If we're going to buy you a starter violin, then you have to promise to practice for an hour a day'," Dixon said in a Patch interview. "And they held me to that until high school when I rebelled. I said, 'I will practice when I want.'"

He never planned to be a musician. His main thing was technology.

"I'm a recovering geek. I started programming computers in middle school in the 1980s. I then went on to get a bachelor's and master's degree in computer science. I got a patent in virtual reality. I had a 15-year very successful technology career in Lansing, Michigan. I specialized in multi-dimensional data visualization."

He played classical music throughout childhood and during his 20s and 30s as a hobby. He played in a couple of symphony orchestras in his native Michigan. Feelings live in music and are expressed through the sound, but Dixon wouldn't allow himself to go to that vulnerable place when he played. He was stuck in his head analyzing and rationalizing.

Life-Changing Event

That all changed in 2005 when he went to the Burning Man Festival in Nevada. Dixon said this changed how he viewed life.

"I had a great thing going in the corporate world," Dixon said. "Then I went to the Burning Man Festival and it changed my life. It was my spiritual awakening. It was my catalyst. That was the thing that told me I had been living in my head and not my heart. I had a heart opening and I started looking at life a whole new way."

As Dixon dropped the burden of perfection that is placed on classical musicians, he did something that scared him. He began improvising musically and playing what he felt.

"I had this fear of making mistakes," Dixon said "Now I know it's OK to make mistakes, you'll be fine. Keep going."

In 2011, Dixon walked away from a successful career and hit the road full-time as a musician with his five-string electric violin.

Experimental Sounds

In the beginning of his tour days, he learned a lot from guitarists. He was introduced to effects pedals and looping, which is what many solo musicians use to make it sound like a full-band is playing with them.

He now uses a laptop in place of the pedals. He wrote thousands of lines of code that allows his laptop to do effects and looping.

"I love that it's all live, and I love improvising, feeling the moment and see what can come out," he said with a smile. "I want to be a channel. The system lets me do effects which allows me to have sounds from a violin you've never heard. The looping lets me sound like there's 12 of me at the same time."

His life's mission is to be an example for others to do what they love, even if it scares them.

"I like the idea of demonstrating something that seems impossible," he said. "This is about other people, "Hey, what are you trying to manifest in your life? You can do anything, it's not impossible."

Florida Shows

Dixon does six-month tours every year leaving his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, he has driven a Toyota Prius to pull a small, black trailer he has called home. For nearly six-months he's performed in Florida and will wrap up the tour in a couple of weeks.

As a safety precaution, he does not sleep in hotels or any shared travel lodges. All of his shows must be played outside and have small crowds. He creates safe performance space when he has limited outdoor options.

"We've been playing in backyards, parks, parking lots, urban farms, community gardens and a zoo in Michigan," he said with a laugh. " It's interesting because during the pandemic, I am doing more shows than ever, which makes me the luckiest guy in the world. Pre-pandemic, I was doing a little over a hundred, but this year I will probably do 150 shows."

St. Pete has been his favorite place to perform in Florida during the pandemic, with safe space outdoors.

"I have stayed here mostly in the past six months on my tour," he said. "Because we're outside, Florida was the number one pick. We've been here since November."

Upcoming St. Pete Shows

Before his tour wraps up, he has two more shows in St. Petersburg: April 1 at the Flying Boat Brewing Company, 1776 11th Ave N., St. Petersburg, at 7 p.m. and April 11 at Cage Brewing, 2001 1st Ave S., St. Petersburg at 2 p.m. For tickets to both shows, RSVP here.

"If Dixon were to meet up with the Devil in Georgia, ol' Beelzebub wouldn't stand a chance. He's just that good," the Princeton Times reported.

To listen to Dixon's music, search with Dixon's Violin in Apple Music, Spotify, Google and Pandora. For more information about Dixon, visit www.dixonsviolin.com

Video of Dixon playing the violin below (Courtesy of Dixon):