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Born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Began music studies at age 4 on piano, followed by
guitar, drums and percussion, and voice
A child of the sixties, Carl was enchanted with the
sounds of the Beatles, Creedence, the Stones, the
Guess Who, Sl y, Motown, "and all the magic rock and
pop music that climbed the charts in those early
days". The next heavier wave of bands like Free,
Humble Pie, Grand Funk, Deep Purple, Jethro Tull,
Faces, Mick Taylor-era Stones and of course Led
Zeppelin crystallised Carl's desire to be a player,
not just a fan. "For me, being a musician was never
about trying to get girls or be popular; it was
always about trying to re-create that thrill that
great music gave to me"
Carl started playing guitar and singing in bands at
15; at 16 he started playing underage in bars with
older musicians through the rest of school days.
A chance meeting lead Carl to move to Montreal in
1979 to continue his career with a band called
Firefly, which already included a guitarist/singer
named Brian Hughes (Beau Geste, Brian Hughes band).
Early 1981, Firefly dwindling, Carl moved closer to
home to Toronto. Barely settled, he answered a
newspaper Classified ad from a band seeking a
guitarist/singer. That band was Coney Hatch, and
Carl was quickly hired.
Carl joining
Coney Hatch was the final piece of the
puzzle for the ambitious young band. A strong
creative partnership quickly formed and within six
months the group's writing and demoing lead them to
a record deal with Anthem Records in Canada, later
followed by a world-wide deal with Polygram-Mercury.
The debut album "Coney Hatch" was released in summer
1982, produced by Canadian Rock legend Kim Mitchell
who had "discovered" and nurtured the band through
the formative stages. Nine of the album's ten songs
were either Carl Dixon-written or co-written.
Top-ten single "Hey Operator" (later covered by Aldo
Nova), FM Rock Radio support plus touring through
the U.S. and Canada helped to later push the album
to gold sales. A 25-show support slot with Judas
Priest on their Screaming for Vengeance tour had a
large impact on the band.
Carl: " It was a very
important experience for us; we really were these
raw, naive Northern boys who had lots of energy but
not much savvy. Watching the Priest pound out their
great show night after night at such a high level of
polish and consistency was a real education".
Summer 1983 saw the release of Coney Hatch's second
album, "Outa Hand", produced by Max Norman (Ozzy
Osbourne). Eight of the nine songs were Carl Dixon
co-writes and single "First Time for Everything"
took off at Rock Radio. Again the year was filled
with touring, the major segment this time being a
40-show support slot with Iron Maiden on the Piece
of Mind tour. "Again an incredibly positive
experience; Maiden was very cool and very good to
us" .
February 1985 saw the release of the third and final
Hatch album, "Friction". Considered by many,
especially in Europe, to be the band's finest, it
nevertheless was considered a commercial
disappointment. Disheartened by the lack of success,
the band found that internal differences became
strained to the breaking point, leading to Carl's
exit from the group in late 1985. Carl: "It was
really a case of immaturity and impoverishment; I
felt as if we were continually sacrificing for a
"someday" that would never come. We also were
getting very bad advice or no advice from our
so-called management."
Carl struck off (and out) on his own, intending to
begin a solo career. "I thought I'd have a new album
done by Christmas; I didn't realize it would be
Christmas 7 years later!".
1986-87 were spent in a funk of uncertainty and
thinking; eventually Carl decided to start again
from the ground up. A Carl Dixon band was formed,
playing new originals, Coney Hatch songs and cover
songs. This was followed by a 1988 similar venture
called Rough and Ready, which took the concept
further with better players and some fresh material,
some of which appeared on Carl's later solo album.
1989 saw Coney Hatch doing reunion shows. " We were
all still friends and the money offers were too good
to turn down so we went out pounded audiences
together again for a couple of years for the best
money we'd ever made!"
The Coney Hatch reunion shows provided Carl with the
cash needed to expand his career. A contact helped
Carl hook up with pro songwriters in Nahsville, New
York and L.A. where a whole new world opened up.
People like Taylor Rhodes, Van Stephenson, Jack
Conrad, Mike Lunn Marc Ribler and especially Brett
Walker and Stan Meissner helped Carl see new
possibilities for his music. "In Coney Hatch we
never sat in a room and wrote a complete song
together . It was always finished in privacy or
secrecy and then brought to the band. Now for the
first time I experienced the 'in-your-face, toss
ideas back and forth until we agree that it's great'
approach to writing".
Once again furious writing and demoing activity
brought Carl to the attention of a major company; he
signed a staff-songwriter deal with Rondor music New
York in 1990.
In 1992, the Rondor deal over, Carl decided to get
down to the business of that long-delayed solo
album. The remainder of the year was spent on the
final writing and recording of Carl Dixon "One".
Featuring 15 songs, a rhythm section of Billy
Carmassi on drums and Rough and Ready bassist Tim
Harrington along with guests Steve Shelski and Andy
Curran of Coney Hatch and Mike Shotten, "One" did
great at radio in Canada and was supported in Europe
by a couple of promo tours after the spring 1993
release through the now-defunct Long Island Records.
Carl continued gigging in Canada, including another
round of Coney Hatch reunion shows. He also did a
stint representing Long Island Records in Canada to
help them acquire the rights to many of their Rock
Classics reissue series.
In 1997 Carl was contacted by the Guess Who to join
their touring show which worked constantly in the
United States. Jumping at the chance to perform some
of the music he loved, Carl agreed to join. This
happy arrangement ("best gig I ever had") lasted
until April 2000, when the original Guess Who singer
Burton Cummings rejoined the band for a still-going
reunion.
Meantime Carl had produced a live album for the band
entitled "The Guess Who- Down the Road" as well as
producing the album "The Turing Event" for a
Canadian female artist named Rebecca Timmons.
Through this time Carl had been in contact with MTM
music about the possibility of doing a new album for
them. In June 2000 agreement was reached and work on
"Into the Future" was begun. Carl: " I brought all
my experiences in producing to the project; I
engineered the recordings in my home studio, I
stretched myself as a guitar player, I brought in
some of my favourite players to guest, and utilised
my awesome live band who I've played with for years.
I named my studio Siren studio because the
neighbours kept calling the police with noise
complaints!". The album was tailor made to please
the fans of Carl's old Coney Hatch sound but also to
hint at future directions. "Lyrically this album
goes a little deeper but I've also tried to keep
some sense of humour in there"
In between his own solo performances, Carl has been
touring as a member with
April Wine, playing guitar
and keyboards. On many occasions, Carl has had the
opportunity to open for the band by performing a
solo acoustic set to rave reviews. A few of these
nights were recorded and then mixed for Carl's new
live cd "One Voice, Two Hands" which was released on
the Diamond Ditty Music's label in Oct 2003.
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