A Word about 'CROSSIN DIXON'
BIO
Members:
Jason Miller - Vocals
Charlie Grantham – Vocals and Guitar
Brandon Hyde – Vocals and Guitar
“We want to spread Crossin Dixon fever across the world,” declares the four-man band’s lead singer, Jason Miller. “We want to let everybody know how we feel and what we think, and if you can relate, that’s cool—jump on board!”
Thousands have already done just that since the members of Crossin Dixon first hit the stage together in 2002, and more fans are being won over by the band’s edgy brand of rockin’ country every day. With a touring schedule that regularly includes more than 100 shows a year and that has found the group sharing the stage with everyone from Dierks Bentley and Jason Aldean to Merle Haggard and Bad Company, Crossin Dixon has earned its stripes through talent, determination and a relentless work ethic.
The band has its roots in Central Mississippi. Miller was playing in one local band, while guitarists Brandon Hyde and Charlie Grantham were in another. “We were following one another around, playing the same venues on different weekends,” Miller recalls. When both acts experienced lineup changes, the four decided to try joining forces.
From their first rehearsal together, they knew something special was happening. “We just had something that was unique to us, something that we really liked the sound of,” Hyde says. “It was perfect, it was like it was meant to be.” In particular the guys found that their voices merged naturally in harmony that would eventually become one of the band’s trademarks.
After a couple of years slugging it out on the nightclub circuit, fate intervened when Crossin Dixon opened for Aldean in Hunstville, Ala. The group had almost decided to cancel, since they wouldn’t be breaking even on the date—but luckily, they forged ahead anyway. “Somebody there was friends with Michael Knox, who produced Jason,” explains Hyde. “After they heard our show they called Michael the next day.” Things began falling into place immediately. Two weeks later Knox came to see them play at legendary Nashville nightspot Tootsies Orchid Lounge; he liked what he heard, and introduced them to several record labels. In August 2006, the band signed with Broken Bow Records. Crossin Dixon released its self-titled debut, featuring the radio favorites “Guitar Slinger” and “Make You Mine,” in 2008.
For the follow-up, a more seasoned and confident Crossin Dixon returned to the studio with producer Garrett Parris. “It’s a little more edgy than the first record,” Hyde says. “Everything happened so fast when we got the record deal that we didn’t really have time to tell people who we were and what we were about. Between then and now we’ve had time to write songs and figure out who Crossin Dixon is.”
Today, Crossin Dixon is a band that can communicate real, raw emotion while still rocking a party like nobody’s business. The pounding “Lovin’ in the Country” celebrates living the good life in the backwoods, a subject the group knows very well. “It’s something you’ll hear on the radio and go, ‘What’s that? That’s something I’ve never heard before, that’s not what you’d normally hear,’” says Miller. “You’ll crank it up loud and say, ‘Wow, it’s a band.’ That song tells our story right there.” Indeed, the members all continue to live in Mississippi rather than relocating to Nashville. “It really keeps us grounded,” Hyde says. “We can stay with our families and not be in fast-forward all the time. “
Elsewhere on the album, “The Women ‘Round Here” pays fond homage to the endless fine examples of femininity to be found all over America. “It doesn’t matter where you are, it’s about ‘the women ‘round here,’” Miller says. “That flies anywhere—east, west, north and south. Anybody can relate to that.” In a more serious vein is “I’m Not About To,” a romantic pledge of fidelity written by Grantham and Parris. “We got to talking about things that go on out on the road,” explains Grantham. “I said, ‘It’s taken me this long to find who I’m looking for, and I’m not about to jeopardize that for a one-night stand. I’m not about to.’ We looked at each other, and in 15 minutes we had it written.”
Armed with a set of outstanding new songs and a neverending mission to convert new fans, Crossin Dixon is eager to take its music as far as it can go. “We want to be people’s escape,” Miller says. “They get away from their jobs, they get away from everything when they come to hear us.”
“Playing music and seeing people sing our songs and having a great time—it’s just incredible,” Miller says. “We’ve had people telling us our music has changed their lives. We’ve seen people getting Crossin Dixon tattoos. What’s next?”
