LOVE NOTES: David Dixon releases single ahead of 2020 EP

David Dixon’s forthcoming single “Better With You By My Side” isn’t subtle. He wrote this song/love note for his wife of almost three years, Lauren, and even uses a photo from their wedding at Brooklyn Arts Center for the song’s artwork—of which completely focuses on Lauren as she rests her head on David’s shoulder. To hear him tell it: “She’s the best.” 

“[Lauren is] beautiful, funny, kind, supportive, loves music,” Dixon lists. “We met in my hometown (Greenville, NC) years ago when she was working at the same venue where I hosted a weekly gig.”

“Better With You By My Side” came about after running into a dead end with another song. The goal became simple: “work out an upbeat, cheerful groove on guitar and try not overthink it." He wanted to churn out a melody and sounds that made people feel good. 

“So the idea immediately turned into a love song,” Dixon remembers, “and I retroactively wrote the story of the song around that one line [“better with you by my side”]. I spent two days on the crux of the song outline, and then I spent two months tweaking the lyrics and arrangement. I love how it turned out, it's one of my favorites.”

Focused on the use of live instrumentation, Dixon recorded himself playing guitar, bass, organ and the vocal parts for this song at his Wilmington home. Live drums were added later by mixing engineer Carl Bahner based in Pennsylvania. Not to say local music friends didn’t play a role as well: Dixon made use of gear from Hourglass Studios’ Trent Harrison and Signal Fire’s Sean Gregory leant him guitars and amps for more sonic options. 

Dixon is officially releasing “Better With You By My Side” on all streaming platforms on Friday, June 19 with a five-song EP, titled "Small Circles,” coming out sometime in 2020 as well. It’s the third single release off the album, with the other two (“Across the Room” and “Back and Forth”) already available to listen to for free at daviddixonmusic.com or via streaming platforms like Spotify and Pandora. The EP’s funding was in large part due to a successful Kickstarter campaign and “a lot of help from some generous people.” So it’s important to Dixon to keep releasing new music and entertaining folks at home.

Most of Dixon’s scheduled shows are still either cancelled or TBD due to the pandemic, with a few Facebook livestreams on Facebook and pre-recorded home sessions here and there on socials. Featuring many of his rootsy originals, Dixon likes to share popular covers as well. 

“I recently made videos performing a Beach Boys song, a Foo Fighters song, and I did a fun Justin Timberlake/Chris Stapleton cover a while back,” he explains. “They are all free on my website for anyone interested.”

encore caught up with David Dixon to learn more about “Better With You By My Side” and how he’s staying positive in music amid pandemics and protests.

(Q&A edited for length)

encore (e): How much of this song is literal narrative and how much is figurative/metaphorical?

David Dixon (DD): The verses of this song are very literal: "I'm not the best at keeping plans / I'm scatterbrained with calloused hands / You always seem to understand, and I'm better with you by my side." 

I'm not officially diagnosed with ADHD, but my wife jokes that she thinks I am. I admit, I can get distracted easily. Sometimes I'll be unloading the dishwasher and will abort the job midway through to go work on a song idea. 

The lyrics directly refer to my life and my relationship with my wife, but I tried to write them in a way that is relatable to other people and their relationships. Universal concepts are a good tool in songwriting, people tend to understand the story better if they've shared similar feelings and experiences. That's why songs about love and heartbreak are so common. The trick is trying to find a fresh or unique way to say something that resonates with the listener, and matching that with a memorable melody.

e: In the song you write that you “wouldn’t mention her tattoos” … promise not exactly kept! 

DD: [laughs] That line was meant to be tongue in cheek. Lauren has a tattoo on each foot. They aren't really obvious unless she's barefoot or wearing sandals. When she was considering getting her first tattoo, Lauren's folks gave her a little bit of flak. Once she got the ink she didn't tell them right away. When I told Lauren I was writing a song about her and jokingly asked her if anything was off-limits, she said, "just don't mention my tattoo." I ultimately decided the line was too good not to use. 

e: Tell us more about the EP you’re working on and ETA.

DD: The EP would have been released already but the pandemic pushed things back a bit. I really wanted to have a traditional album release and throw a big party at a local venue, perform the new music live, pass out CDs and have fun hanging out with everybody. I'm not sure when that will be possible due to the pandemic, so I've been taking some extra time to obsess over the last song in the meantime. If the quarantine/social distancing continues to be necessary for much longer, I'm just going to release the EP and make it available for purchase on my website within the next month or two. I'm grateful to have a platform where people can hear my new music, whether or not they can see me perform live at the moment.

e: How are these days of COVID and social unrest treating you as a whole?

DD: There have been pros and cons. The pros being I have had more time to work on writing and recording music than during my normal, performance-heavy schedule. Honestly, balancing the live show schedule and trying to finish the EP at the same time was grueling. I felt really burnt-out for a couple of months. The break from performing three to five nights a week was really nice at first, but I really miss playing live music. There is absolutely no substitute for performing music to real people in the same room and feeding off of their energy. 

The main con of the current tribalized state of dichotomy we are currently living in is all the hate and negative energy. It seems like a lot of people would rather their team "win" than to do what's right. Pretending either political party is standing on moral high ground, or is "right" about every major issue seems a little naive to me. I've seen corruption so often coming from both sides of the aisle. (I mean, right now, our own NC Senator [Richard] Burr is being investigated for dumping a bunch of stock immediately after finding out about Covid and the resulting economic shut-down, and then sharing that info with his donors but not his constituents. How is that not corrupt?) 

When I get on social media and see endless insensitive comments and insults, it has a strong effect on me. Mostly, it makes me sad and I don't want to keep wading in those negative waters, so lately I've been limiting my time on social media. Don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly agree with the recent protesting. The lack of empathy from some people and their willingness to place "peaceful protestors" and "rioters/looters" in the same category is extremely disappointing. Our country was founded on protesting against injustices and we consider our forefathers heros for standing up to unfair treatment. I can't think of a cause more important to demonstrate for, and we're damn lucky to live in a country that allows us the freedom to do so. There's no quick or easy fix, but raising awareness about racial injustices and admitting they exist is the first step.

e: How is it all impacting your music? 

DD: Musically, I'm trying to add to the positive and steer away from the negative for the sake of my own sanity. The main reason I wanted to release this song now was to put out a feel-good song about love at a time when so much negativity is present. I hope this song will make people happy and brighten their mood when they listen. 

The live performances seem to be getting back on track slowly but surely. Starting in August, a lot of my bookings are supposedly back on but we'll have to see. I'll be putting out new material one way or another!

DETAILS:

David Dixon

Single release ‘Better With You By My Side’

Friday, June 19

www.daviddixonmusic.com

@daviddixonmusic on Instagram, FB, Twitter