ON THE RISE
If you like to rock, then let’s roll. The Jimmy Dixon Group, a collective of passionate rock & roll fans and creatives from all over the Midwest, meet up to record “The Rough Demos.”
Lead singer and instigator Jimmy Dixon shares the imaginative backstory of how the group came to be. When asked about their playful biography, he jokingly clarifies that with every good legendary tale there are grains of truth and elements of embellishment. However, what’s most enduring about their story is how their old souls and shared love of rock, and on-the-roll-rendezvous, shaped what is now the Jimmy Dixon Group.
Drawing inspiration from 1950s Chicago blues genres with an iconic vintage Fender electric sound, to the uninhibited energy of '60s and '70s rock 'n' roll, the band has been influenced by all kinds of kinds: Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, The Who, Bob Dylan, and their creative compass of a supergroup, The Traveling Wilburys.
Scattered throughout the Midwest, The Jimmy Dixon Group comprises: Jimmy Dixon, lead singer, Cranky Dixon on lead guitar, "Midnight" Mae Dixon on piano, Benmont Dixon on strings, Chubbs Dixon on drums, Gary Dixon on bass and backing vocals, and Capo Dixon on rhythm guitars. Yes, plural, because he plays a 12 string, which is practically two guitars, right? No, but I digress. While these aren’t their government names, this cast of musicians do bring the authenticity and sheer fun of rock n’ roll to life in their new album “Rough Demos.” Kicking us off is their single, “In Thin Air.”
While I didn’t get the pleasure of speaking with the entire group, Jimmy does a great job of illustrating the collaborative and open source nature of the group’s songwriting and creative process. Working alongside their sound engineer, “In Thin Air,” is wildly up for interpretation.
Jimmy shares that’s one of his favorite things about music is its limitless capacity to resonate with people in their own way. One of the greatest things about music is that a song can have different meanings to different people - and nobody is wrong. It just means something different to them. What's most important is that the listener found meaning in the song to begin with. However, he mentioned that for him, the song offered an opportunity to evaluate his life, reflect on how he was spending his time—a finite resource—and determine whether the direction he was heading in was truly making him happy.
And what did make Jimmy and the group happiest, he noted, was the act of creating and finally getting together to record. "In Thin Air" was the first track they recorded as part of their first album, “Rough Demos.”
Jimmy shared how much he enjoyed watching “In Thin Air” evolve—it started with an idea tossed to the group, and each player added their own stamp on it, both through their instruments and by ideating on the direction and arc of the song.
"In Thin Air" features a chugging electric guitar groove, a feeling (for me at least) that embodies cruisin’ down a highway. Their engineer had an unusual idea to incorporate weather elements, such as thunderstorms, to amplify the experience. Jimmy reflected that it not only enhanced the guitar groove but also meshed perfectly with the crash cymbal hits, giving the track extra power and force. Ironically, it was just a happy coincidence that the song’s title aligned so well with the atmospheric elements.
To hear for yourself, you can find “In Thin Air” and the rest of the Rough Demos album on Spotify.
Connect here with The Jimmy Dixon Group for updates on their second album coming in 2025!
ON THE RISE
Throughout 2025, we sat down with an incredible range of celebrities. As the year comes to an end, we used this moment to revisit some of our favorite conversations and gather the cultural picks they shared along the way. For the latest entry in our year end roundups, we are spotlighting a selection of music recommendations from the tastemakers who helped shape 2025, including Interview cover stars Sabrina Carpenter and Jeremy Allen White, comeback favorite Lily Allen, and Bugonia composer Jerskin Fendrix.
“Recently I’ve been listening to a lot of the Blue Nile. The ’70s are where I find a lot of comfort songs. Obviously, my love for bands like Fleetwood Mac and ABBA is endless, but I’m having so much fun discovering new albums.”
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“There’s an album I love called A Grand Don’t Come for Free by the Streets, and it’s like a movie from start to finish. Each song can stand alone and make total sense, but together it’s more like a novel.”
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“I’ve always loved Love. Angel. Music. Baby. by Gwen Stefani.”
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ALEXI ALARIO: The Well-Tempered Clavier and girl groups of all sorts—my favorites are the Ronettes and IZ*ONE.
BIZ SHERBERT: “Fruits of My Labor” by Lucinda Williams.
SAM CUMMINS: Tom Petty, Tom T. Hall, Tom Tom Club.
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“My first full album experience where I was like, “Holy shit, music is everything,” was 21 by Adele. One of my mom’s friends had an extra CD and I stole it and played it over and over and over and over.”
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“I also listened to [John F. Kennedy] Jr. read his father’s book Profiles in Courage every day before work to get into his cadence and vocal style.”
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“David Bowie…And then, of course, George Michael. Obviously Michael Jackson—”Remember the Time.” Are you kidding me? Then there were all of the female inspirations that I was listening to with Mommy—Madonna, Whitney [Houston], Donna Summer, Barbra Streisand.”
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“At the moment, I was just talking about Digga D–he’s a British rapper. He’s kind of been on the scene for a couple of years now. He’s pretty sick. I think Central Cee’s doing bits. I think Jay Cole’s doing bits.”
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“SOPHIE. I do not believe any musical death in the 21st century has so violently altered the trajectory of pop music than hers. I think about what she would have done next, even though I would be so powerless to execute it.”
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“I listened to [Bruce Springsteen] so much that it was driving me crazy.”
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“Do you know Karina Longworth’s podcast, You Must Remember This? She’s a total cinema freak. She contextualizes these eras of film with what’s going on sociopolitically and culturally with the world at the time and how that tracks through decades of patterns in cinema and the industry. Recently, I’ve been in an erotic ’90s land.”
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