Listen to Dixon’s Violin perform live in WDET’s Studio A
The innovative Detroit musician joins CultureShift to create some never-before-heard melodies and talk about the healing properties of art.
Dixon of Dixon's Violin in WDET's studios on Feb. 3, 2023.
Detroit’s own Dixon’s Violin has made it his life’s work to use music to express natural human emotions in a way that doesn’t hurt others — or himself.
Dixon uses a 5-string electric violin with a looping system, which provides a symphonic background to his storytelling.
He’s played massive venues like Electric Forest and Burning Man, and has done four Ted Talks. But before all that, he had a successful career in the tech world.
“I’m a geek basically, and I was blessed to get into a couple start-up companies,” he tells CultureShift. “I was director of technology and I was very successful and my parents didn’t have to worry about me anymore, and then I had a life change. In 2005, I went to a festival and changed my life and really opened my heart for the first time.”
After finding a group of like-minded friends living in Detroit, he knew he had to change his life’s path.
He credits the City of Detroit with allowing him to express himself in a new way.
“I was living in Lansing at the time, and my friends in Detroit started throwing these crazy events that I started participating in and the culture is so good, the art scene is so rich and avant-garde, and I’m like, ‘Yes, these are my people.’”
Dixon’s Violin will be performing in Southeast Michigan for several stops of his Humankindness Tour. To see dates and get tickets, visit his website.
Support the shows you love.
WDET’s unique music programs are dedicated to exploring the music and culture of our region and the world.
Keep the music going. Please make a gift today.
