IT'S ABOUT MORE THAN MUSIC
DIXON VIOLINISTS; BROTHERS AND COUSINS PLAY AND PERFORM AT CHURCHES AND COMMUNITY EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE
It’s hard to know for certain how many violinists there are in Noxubee County. When the Dixon Family gets together for performances, there are at least five. Managed, nurtured and sometimes cajoled by their grandmother - retired school superintendent, music teacher and state representative Reecy Dickson - the group of teens have been performing at churches and community events.
“I like playing mostly, but I like performing, too, “ says 17-year-old Ron Dickson Jr., the eldest of a group that includes his two brothers - Cordell (14) and Lamar (13) along with first cousins Dirk Dickson Jr. and Todd Lee Dickson. “Not a lot of people play the violin or even see somebody playing it, so that’s kind of cool to give people a little taste of it.”
Ron was 12 when his uncle suggested he pick up the violin. He liked it from the start, even though eliciting anything beyond the screech you would associate with an alley cat in pain, proved elusive.
“It is hard at first,” Ron says. “But once you get a feel for it, it’s such an elegant sound. It’s not like the guitar or the piano or any other instrument. It’s elegant. That’s the best way I can describe it.”
When Reecy Dickson heard Ron had picked up the violin, she saw it as an opportunity to introduce some of her other grandchildren to the instrument.
“We’re a musical family,” she said. “Their grandfather, my husband, Billie, was band director in Macon, Aliceville (Alabama) and Columbus for close to 30 years. I have a Masters in music from Mississippi State and taught music for 12 years (in Noxubee County) before becoming school superintendent there.”
The love of music, she was sure, had been passed along the generations.
“If they are going to be around us, they have to do something. So when I found out there was a violin teacher in Louisville. I bought all of them violins and started taking them to lessons.”
That was about four years ago. By last year, the boys had progressed to the point where they were soon being asked to perform.
“They get multiple invitations from all over,” Reecy DIxon says. “They’ve played at the Dancing Rabbit Festival (in Macon), Juneteenth (Starkville) and a lot of churches and community events.”
It’s a sweltering Saturday afternoon as the Dicksons take a make-shift stage in front of the J.L. King Community Center to play before a crowd of several hundred people at the Starkville chapter NAACP’s “Juneteenth” Celebration. The teens breeze confidently through a short set, four violins, with one of the cousins accompanying on the keyboard. (Four of the five play keyboard as well as the violin). With only a single microphone and one small amp, the teens play and the crowd goes quiet, leaning forward in lawn chairs to hear the music. They do not address the crowd, instead moving from one number to the next. After finishing the last tune, the boys quietly leave the stage area to a generous applause. Reecy Dickson takes the microphone.
“We need to appreciate the talent of our children,” she says, which draws a smattering of affirmations from the crowd - “Tell it!” and “That’s right!” and “”Preach.”
She pauses.
“But we also need to tell our children about hard work.”
The crowd nods and claps and shouts in approval.
The way Reecy Dickson sees it, her boys make music, but it’s not all about music.
“My point is that they have to have objectives and goals and a determination to reach them,” she says. “I served on the Corrections Committee in the Legislature for 23 years. I got to see what can happen when young people don't have goals. [...] So I’m making sure my grandchildren grasp on to something they can be proud of.”
She preaches hard work, above all else.
“They know what is expected of them. They must read. They must practice. They must make good grades. It’s all about establishing a work ethic. You don’t get anywhere without that.”
For the Dickson kids that message is reflected in the music they make.
STORY BY SLIM SMITH
PHOTOS BY ANTRANIK TAVITIAN
