Dixon honored
10/2/2024
Performed thousands of concerts.
Recorded and wrote for 300-plus albums.
Taught hundreds of student music lessons.
Played in dozens of bands, including a local favorite, Standing Hampton.
Add it all together for an outstanding accomplishment for Doug Dixon — an Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dixon, who was honored on Sept. 1, said the award came as a surprise.
“An old buddy I played with in the 1970s nominated me 10 years ago. I wasn’t expecting a lifetime achievement award,” he says.
His musical journey started 50 years ago. He began playing piano at age 5 and guitar at age 12. His high school band won a battle of the bands contest.
“After that, it was off to the races,” he recalls.
Growing up in Bloomfield, which is 20 miles south of Ottumwa, Dixon played close to 1,000 gigs from the 1970s and 1980s. Clubs in that era often offered live music six nights a week.
Dixon began writing and recording music and learned to play the synthesizer. He recorded music, however, his band disbanded.
“Some guys were in their mid-20s and said they were too old and needed to get a real job, get married and have kids.”
Yet, that wasn’t Dixon’s dream. He moved to Wisconsin and joined a band, Airkraft. He played 300 concerts a year for four years and signed a deal with Curb Records. Then, in the 1980s, grunge music came along.
“We weren’t relative and not a hair metal band,” he recalls.
He switched to playing country music, moving back to Iowa to start recording music and playing with other bands. He was friends with television star Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold, and he played with Tom at Farm Aid. It was one of his favorite concerts.
“I ate breakfast next to Ringo Starr. Willie Nelson was up on stage with us, but he didn’t know any of our songs, so he was faking it,” he recalls. “It was a who’s who with all of these country artists. It was really cool.”
He played in another band, Bootrockets, which released an album and opened up for Martina McBride, Sammy Kershaw, 38 Special and other bands. He played country music until 2000, when some old college friends needed a new guitar player. He joined Standing Hampton and has played guitar and keyboard the past 24 years.
Throughout his career, he’s taught lessons and recorded with 300 bands or musicians who needed help with production. He’s proud of the five albums he has collaborated on with former student Matt Clay.
Dixon is amazed at how Bloomfield was a hotbed of musical talent.
“There were five bands from high school in a town of 500. I remember playing in Minneapolis,” he says. “There were three guys from Bloomfield playing in different bands there.”
Dixon’s music evolved over the years. During the pandemic, he wrote and released a piano album that he “sat on for 30 years.” A notebook full of ideas means a lifetime career of music. As he quit college early on, he returned in 2018 for a degree. He says music is a full-time job.
“I applaud people who are doing it. If you want to be successful, you have to live and breathe it,” Dixon says.
Dixon recently attended a school board meeting where the leader asked how many people were doing what they said they wanted to do high school.
“I’m the only one who raised my hand. I am pretty lucky. The joy comes from doing what I love,” he reflects. “If I see you in the audience happy, that makes me happy.”
About the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame
The Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Music Association annually inducts musicians, bands, DJs, ballrooms and others who have significantly contributed to rock and roll music in Iowa with a minimum of 25 years of experience in the music industry. Since 1997, more than 500 entities and 1,900 individuals have been honored in the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. For a list of 2024 Hall of Fame members, visit www.iowarocknroll.com/halloffame.
