Dixon’s solo debut ‘One’ (1993), appears to have been a pretty obvious move for a man of his standing (at least from the European perspective). Carl, born in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario had come to prominence in the early 80s as one of the frontmen for the critically acclaimed Canadian hard rock band Coney Hatch.
However, having released three albums between 1982 and 1985, Dixon had become pretty disillusioned with his career at that point; tired of the many frustrations that being on a major label (who don’t appear to care) brings on a touring band trying to get noticed. Ironically, as has been shown time and again, North American bands often appear to be curiously shielded from any success they may be achieving abroad. In Coney Hatch’s case there was another market out there bursting to embrace them in Europe, if only they’d known about it.
After focussing on songwriting for other artists for a while, eventually switching focus from North America, where Grunge was on the brink, to Europe, especially Germany, where Coney Hatch made a much bigger impact, Carl wouldn’t fully learn about it only until Coney Hatch’ performance at the 2014 edition of Firefest, England.
’One’ features fifteen songs, one of them (‘One Good Reason’) a co-write with Brett Walker, another one (‘Taste Of Love’) Aerosmith meets Def Leppard flavored.
Dixon’s first wife Stella ended up adding backing vocals alongside e.g. Mark Santer (Santers) or Mike Shotton (Von Groove). It took a month of recording in four different studios especially focussing on how the guitars sound. The Canadian still is very proud of it and about the fact that people still remember the album.
After being with The Guess Who and April Wine for a while and a horrible car crash in Australia in 2008, he’s back with Coney Hatch leading to the 2013 record ‘Four’ and has released a couple of solo records since. Additionally, he’s having a brand new solo effort by the name of ‘Unbroken’ coming out soon on with he collaborated with Frontline’s Robby Böbel.
After the re-issue of the classic album “One” in October 2019, November sees the release of the first collaboration between Carl and Robert Boebel, a long-time stalwart on the German music scene with bands like Frontline and Phantom V, among many. The result is the new release, Carl Dixon UNBROKEN, a powerfully sung and performed album that reaches the heights of AOR Melodic Rock. Memorable hooks, strong melodies, great guitar playing and production, and drumming performed by Mark Santer (Santers) and newcomer Dylan Gowan (Vesperia, Cardinal Street).
