← Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight
Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight
The Dynamic Music Talents of Broadway Star Brandon Victor Dixon
00:34:43
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- [00:00]
Ryan Seacrest
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:06]
Jake Hanrahan
Pro Paint.
- [00:07]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Days are back at Lowes and Mylo's Pro Rewards members can save even more with limited time deals right now. Buy one get 1/2 off select HGTV Home by Sherwin Williams Primer and Ceiling Paint. Plus get free same day delivery to your job site when you order by 2pm Offer valid through 6 13. Delivery by 8pm Subject to driver availability. Additional terms apply. Ceelo's.com SameDay Delivery for details this episode.
- [00:35]
Buzz Knight
Of Taking a Walk is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve. Whether I'm booking my next vacation or going to a concert, Chase Sapphire Reserve is my gateway to the world's most captivating destinations. When I use my Chase Sapphire card, I get three times points on travel and dining and even access to one of a kind experiences like music festivals and sports events. And that's not even mentioning how the card gets me into the Sapphire Lounge by the club at select airports nationwide. No matter where I'm walking, travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Discover more which a sapphire reserve@chase.com Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank NA member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.
- [01:23]
Brandon Victor Dixon
NBC Nightly News Legacy isn't handed down or NBC News. I'm Tom Brokaw.
- [01:28]
Buzz Knight
We hope to see you back here.
- [01:29]
Brandon Victor Dixon
I'm Lester Holt.
- [01:30]
Ryan Seacrest
It's carried.
- [01:31]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Tom Yamas is there for us.
- [01:33]
Ryan Seacrest
Firefighters are still working around the clock.
- [01:35]
Brandon Victor Dixon
As the world changes, we look for what endures.
- [01:37]
Ryan Seacrest
We are coming on the air with breaking news. Right now we look for a constant.
- [01:41]
Brandon Victor Dixon
And from one era to the next.
- [01:43]
Ryan Seacrest
Trust is the anchor for NBC Nightly News. I'm Tom Yamas. A new chapter begins NBC Nightly News.
- [01:50]
Brandon Victor Dixon
With Tom Yamas evenings on NBC.
- [01:53]
Lester Holt
We're leaving today and entering a world of Cinderella, Castle sightseeing, Tron Light cycling, Jungle Cruise pun Pirate swashbuckling, Everest climbing Dapper Danning Danning Soaring, soaring Fireworks show.
- [02:12]
Jake Hanrahan
Of I'm not crying, you're crying.
- [02:16]
Lester Holt
World of Favorites for whatever you love, infinite worlds await at the most magical place on earth. Walt Disney World Resort.
- [02:23]
Ryan Seacrest
Are you still quoting 30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. And every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to Discover. Learn more@discover.com credit card based on the February 2024 Nielsen report taking A walk.
- [02:53]
Brandon Victor Dixon
It is a real question that we have to ask ourselves. We are beyond the point of blind hope and we are into of responsibility where we will have to make choices. We cannot just be blithely carried along. And that's why this song says maybe. Maybe we're gonna make it all right. Maybe not today, but maybe tomorrow night. And I believe we will. The message ultimately is a positive one.
- [03:19]
Lester Holt
Welcome to the Taking a Walk podcast with Buzz Knight, where Buzz finds the stories of music and new projects and this time from an amazing Broadway performer who's created new music just released for the world to hear. Buzz is joined by Broadway powerhouse Brandon Victor Dixon, Emmy, Grammy and multiple Tony award nominated actor, singer and producer. Brandon's remarkable career spans originating Harpo in the Color Purple, portraying Berry Gordy Jr. In Motown the Musical, and stepping into Aaron Burr's shoes in Hamilton as co founder of Walk Run Fly Productions. Brandon supports new voices on Broadway, including the Tony winning revival of Hedwig and the angry inch. Join BuzzKnight as he talks with Brandon Victor Dixon to discuss his journey and his new pop release, Power Song, on the Taking a Walk podcast.
- [04:14]
Tom Yamas
Well, Brandon, thanks for being on the Taking a Walk podcast and in person, too, in glorious New York City.
- [04:21]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Happy to be here. Happy to be here. Thank you for having me.
- [04:23]
Tom Yamas
Oh, it's so great. So before we talk about your new release, which is so wonderful to see out there in the world, and then got a full album coming out as well. Since the podcast is called Taking a Walk, I do want to ask you if you could take a walk with somebody and they would be living or dead. They don't have to be associated with music. But since you have spent a life around theater and music, it can lean that way. Who would you like to take a walk with and where would you take a walk with them?
- [05:06]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Okay, so and is the location. Does it have to be a real location in present day?
- [05:13]
Tom Yamas
Not necessarily.
- [05:15]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Okay.
- [05:15]
Tom Yamas
I've never been asked that.
- [05:16]
Brandon Victor Dixon
So.
- [05:16]
Tom Yamas
But not necessarily.
- [05:19]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Let me see. I am gonna go with. These are odd choices. Well, one of the I'm gonna give my initial answer, which is a sentiment mental answer, would be with my father and it would be around the. The Montgomery College tennis courts in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where he taught me how to play tennis. But if I'm going with a creatively inspired, I would want to take a walk with Michael Jackson. We would take the walk down the lawn at Barry Gordy's house. Wow.
- [05:57]
Tom Yamas
Yeah. Okay.
- [05:59]
Brandon Victor Dixon
That's where we'd take the walk.
- [06:00]
Tom Yamas
That's a great spot.
- [06:01]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Yes, it is.
- [06:02]
Tom Yamas
Have you ever been on that property?
- [06:05]
Brandon Victor Dixon
I have, yeah, I have. That's part of the reason I know it would be the perfect spot.
- [06:10]
Tom Yamas
Yeah. Yeah. What do you think you would talk to him about?
- [06:14]
Brandon Victor Dixon
I mean, really everything. He would let me, you know, I would, but I would talk to him about. I would want to talk to him just about life, just about him and how he is and, you know, somebody who has had such a dynamic impact on me personally, but not just me, but on the world, you know, I would be interested to just get to know the person. He's a person whom I admire greatly, but a person whose life I cannot even begin to imagine because the experiences that shaped him are so unique. And the way the world has reacted to him since a very young age is very unique. I just have no idea what kind of person and I'd be interested.
- [07:04]
Tom Yamas
Yeah. And walks have a tendency of getting to the root of a lot of personal feelings and in depth conversations because we're free, we're out there, we're concentrating on our breaths as we're walking, but we're also able to explore, right?
- [07:27]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
- [07:30]
Tom Yamas
So back to Gaithersburg, Maryland for a second there. So you attended St. Albans, right?
- [07:40]
Brandon Victor Dixon
I did.
- [07:41]
Tom Yamas
Before Columbia, yes. And can you talk about some of the mentors that have made an impact on you to this day, thinking back then and then further along in your. In your life?
- [07:55]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Well, I had a. Had a very like, positive family life and family structure which led to me being afforded a lot of educational opportunities which put me in contact with people like my music teacher in elementary school, Burt Worth, who taught me how to play the piano and, you know, really got me connected into theater and music. And then at St. Albans, Frankie Tacker and Richard Dorton, who were the two kind of directors and choreographers of the musical theater program at St. Albans. And they also saw my affinity for the arts, my talent for the arts. So they put me in contact with scholarship competitions, enabled me to go study at Oxford at the British American Drama Academy. And they also really just helped me to get some scholarships that helped me pay for my time at Columbia University here and here in New York.
- [08:52]
Tom Yamas
And you think back on that and you think of how all the pieces came together pretty incredibly.
- [09:01]
Brandon Victor Dixon
I do, I do. I think, you know, I have the benefit of having known from a very young age what I wanted to do and an environment that it helped enable that along with structure. And I think that because of that I've been able to make decisions over the course of time that at least helped increase the probability that I might be able to walk this path.
- [09:28]
Tom Yamas
So take me back. You walk in and see your first Broadway show, which I believe was Ragtime, right?
- [09:37]
Brandon Victor Dixon
That was my first show on Broadway, but it was not my first Broadway show.
- [09:43]
Tom Yamas
Okay.
- [09:44]
Brandon Victor Dixon
The first show I saw on Broadway was in the West End, actually. So those are the Broadway shows I saw initially, which was Les Miserables and Miss Saigon.
- [09:52]
Tom Yamas
Okay, so then take me back there at those first moments, but also Ragtime. I mean, what did those experiences teach you and inspire you that to this day, they still, you know, have great meaning?
- [10:09]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Well, it. On one hand, it means that anytime I have a conversation about the greatest musicals of all time, Les Miserables is right up there with an A, number one. It's seared into my brain. But, you know, for me, part of that is because the nature of the musical and the scope of the musical were so far beyond anything I had ever seen or experienced or even really imagined. Because I'm doing high school musicals. I'm doing Guys and Dolls. I'm doing the Music Man. I'm doing, you know, so. And they're in the high school style. I'm seeing the films, but they're films. So movie musicals and film are different. So to be in this kind of large scale, immersive experience, it was really, really transformative for me. And for, I think, at least as for my inspiration for continuing to go forward.
- [11:00]
Tom Yamas
And when you sort of reflect on that right now and you think of younger artists coming up the ranks and making their mark, what advice would you give them that you learned maybe back then or that you're still learning to this day?
- [11:18]
Brandon Victor Dixon
I mean, the thing I would advise them to do would be to observe, absorb and observe all that. You can acquire as many skills as you can in and related to the discipline of your choice and to instill in yourself the ability to walk into fear and to keep going and to keep going and to keep going.
- [11:43]
Tom Yamas
Resilience, yeah, it's important, but it still requires a support system of people to encourage you.
- [11:51]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Right. It's helpful. Not everybody has it, and they still manage.
- [11:56]
Tom Yamas
So these other experiences that have been part of your career are pretty incredible. I want you to maybe touch on all of them or as many. I mean, we. We have time to talk about them all, but you have so many great ones. First of all, can you talk about the Color Purple and what that experience sort of meant to you being part of it?
- [12:22]
Brandon Victor Dixon
The Color Purple was a very unique experience. For me, it was my first original role. And also it taught me something kind of particular, I think, about the discipline. You know, I think Lion King was the show I did prior to that. And that taught me how to live in a role and to live as a. As a professional. And it taught me how to deal with fear and the inability to see the way out. And the Color Purple really taught me about the discipline of acting, of acting in the theater, of acting with partners, and the creative discipline, I think, of theater because of the nature of how it was constructed and the nature of the artists who came together to construct it. The Color Purple was a big show, but at the end of the day, what made the Color Purple work was the relationship between the actors on stage and telling that story. You could do the Color Purple in a black box, and it still has. Has the same effect if that connectivity is there.
- [13:30]
Tom Yamas
But you sort of make it.
- [13:32]
Brandon Victor Dixon
You make it sound somewhat easy.
- [13:34]
Tom Yamas
But I can't fathom those disciplines from my perspective. I'm not, you know, an artist and trained. But you do make it seem effortless.
- [13:45]
Brandon Victor Dixon
I don't make. I hope I make it seem effortless, but I don't. I don't mean to make it sound easy. No, but. No, no, no, I know you're not. I know you're not. But I'm saying. I'm not saying. I don't mean to make it sound easy because it's challenging and it requires a level of skill and willingness, and it is really. It brought a lot of my technical acting disciplines to bear. I've been able to study acting in a number of forms and locations in my education, thankfully, and it really brought a lot of those things. Things to bear.
- [14:22]
Tom Yamas
And then another incredible one that I'm dying to hear your perspective on, because it certainly sounds like it was a blast.
- [14:31]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Motown, the musical Motown was a blast. Motown was a blast. Motown was like. It was a dream come true. Motown was also a lesson, a real human lesson, a real personal lesson in educational time for me. But, you know, Michael Jackson is my greatest artistic inspiration. And so I've always had a great veneration for his origins and love for the Jackson 5 and of the Berry Gordy Motown legacy. So it was kind of otherworldly to get the opportunity to be welcomed into a portion of that family and that legacy.
- [15:13]
Tom Yamas
I was fortunate a couple times on the podcast to I had Mickey Stevenson on for those that don't know. I mean, he was Barry Gordy's A and R man. And also, I think I did one of the. The last interviews before Duke Fakir passed away from the. The Four Tops.
- [15:39]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Yeah, yeah.
- [15:40]
Tom Yamas
And the sense that I got from both of those interviews was not a sense of chaos at all in that time. Just this creative burst that was just everywhere. This amazing series of artists who every time you turned around, there was either a new one or, you know, one that was coming back with new work and everything. Mickey described the early moment seeing, you know, Stevie Wonder and bringing Barry in to see Stevie Wonder. But did you get that sense in studying everything that you did for your role, just how the creative burst must have been so incredible?
- [16:36]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Oh, I certainly did. I mean, one. Just from the. The factual aspect of ingesting. I mean, I know about Motown. I've grown up with Motown, so I'm familiar when you just start listing the artists, you kind of start to get an idea for like, wait, this is kind of what was going on here. Right. But as I, obviously I got into my, my research, that is something that shines through. This was a special time and a special group of people. And, you know, we're. We are dramatic artists and we're making a musical. So we're also looking forward to the drama or the untold things or what are the nuances to this. But even as we kind of crept through those pieces, the thing that came through and that always remained message wise from Barry and I think everybody else is that at the end of the day, it was about the love. Even as we got lost along the way, we got lost because of the love. It drove us crazy, it drove us mad, it drove us forward, it drove us together, it drove us apart, it drives us. But, you know, at the end of the day, it's got to be about the love. And that is what the formula for molding each other was. That is what the formula for molding the music was and finding that frequency, which is what music and communion is about. It's about aligning frequencies. And they found the right frequency and, and managed to. And the people who were attuned to it, came to it and surrendered to it. And I think it's one of the most uniquely dynamic and creative environments in the world, which is why it's created two of the most incredible artists we've ever seen. And it would be hard to imagine a scenario that can create people like Stevie Wonder or Michael Jackson again. And that is not to mention the litany of other artists who are almost on their level, if not on their level.
- [18:34]
Tom Yamas
Yeah, I love how you described it. The frequency and just everything coming Together.
- [18:41]
Brandon Victor Dixon
That's what you're looking for?
- [18:42]
Tom Yamas
Yeah, Hell's Kitchen, once another different place certainly to go. But talk about that experience.
- [18:53]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Hell's Kitchen, very different experience because also it's come at a very different place in my life. I was brought into Hell's Kitchen because of my relationship with the director, Michael Greif. We initially worked together at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. And then after that I went and I did a couple passages of Rent for him off Broadway, and then we did Rent Live together. And Michael, I love Michael and I appreciate Michael's taste and his intellect. And so when he told me he was working on this, I was happy to be a part of the developmental process. And as they continue to work, the script and things aligned that I was able to join them when we went off Broadway and then to Broadway. And it's been, you know, I told. I left the show about a month ago and at my final speech to the, to the youngsters in the cast was really just to talk to them about the fact that, you know, particularly when you get into a process, you have your highs and you have your lows, you have your gripes. But, you know, I said, whatever, whatever you may think of some of the challenges you faced here, like, this is a unique project and a unique time, and you, this is almost as good as it gets. You may not have this again. So, you know, value it. And I think that's something that I, you know, I remembered from some of my earlier experiences, experiences with other shows, trying to hold on to that lesson, because I learned that it doesn't always come right again. And I wanted to impart that lesson to them, but I was grateful to.
- [20:32]
Tom Yamas
Have that experience, such an important lesson. I was just saying it to some people, how I look at myself and I go, how lucky am I here, falling into something where I'm able to interview some of the great artists, musicians, tastemakers. So that lesson of not forgetting that moment that you passed on to your crew there, if you will, is so critical.
- [21:06]
Brandon Victor Dixon
You know, Hell's Kitchen is very, very much the lesson of Hell's Kitchen. It's a. It's a coming of age story about a teenage girl growing up in New York City with her. With her mother. But the lesson of the show for me is that it takes a village. It takes a village to raise somebody. It takes a village to. To build community and to build art and to build music. And, you know, I think Alicia kind of shows, in that show, the influences that poured into her that she has tried to pour back into the world, the village that raised her. So she tries to give back. And I think it's again, it was easy to give that message because it echoes through the piece just as it echoes through my life.
- [21:47]
Lester Holt
We'll be right back with more of the Taking a Walk podcast.
- [21:52]
Buzz Knight
This episode of Taking a Walk is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve. Whether I'm booking my next vacation or going to a concert, Chase Sapphire Reserve is my gateway to the world's most captivating destinations. Travel is one of the most precious things in my life, and the memories of each of the experiences live on forever. Chase Sapphire Reserve allows me to travel with ease with a $300 travel credit and access to a curated collection of hotels through the edit. So no matter where I'm walking, travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Discover more with Chase sapphire reserve@chase.com Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank NA member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.
- [22:44]
Ryan Seacrest
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway, now through June 24. Score hot summer savings and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags on items like Keebler Cookies, Popsicle Frozen Treats, Smart Water, Silk Almond Milk, Folgers Coffee and kerrygold Butter. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Enjoy savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online for easy drive up and go, pickup or delivery subject to availability restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.
- [23:16]
Brandon Victor Dixon
A murder happens, the case goes cold. Then, over 100 years later, we take a second look. I'm Paul Holz, a retired cold case investigator.
- [23:25]
Ryan Seacrest
And I'm Kate Winkler Dawson, a journalist and historian.
- [23:28]
Brandon Victor Dixon
On our podcast Buried Bones, we reexamine.
- [23:31]
Ryan Seacrest
Historical true crime cases using modern forensic techniques. We dig into what the original investigators may have missed. Growing up on a farm, when I heard a gunshot, I did not immediately think murder.
- [23:42]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Unless this person went out to shoot squirrels, they're not choosing a.22 to go hunting out there.
- [23:48]
Ryan Seacrest
These cases may be old, but the questions are still relevant and often chilling.
- [23:54]
Brandon Victor Dixon
I know this chauffeur is not of concern. You know, it's like, well, he's the last one who saw her alive, so how did they eliminate him?
- [24:02]
Ryan Seacrest
Join us as we take you back to the cold cases that haunt us to this day.
- [24:07]
Brandon Victor Dixon
New episodes every Wednesday on the Exactly Right Network. Listen to Buried bones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [24:18]
Holly Fry
Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Tremarke, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the highwayman suggests men dominated the field, but tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrers, known as the wicked lady who terrorized England in the mid-1600s. Her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Hear the story of the gentleman robber, the romantic darling of the ladies, and a tale about a wager over a sack of potatoes. But you'll have to tune in to learn who won that one. Some highwaymen were well mannered or faked it. People were concerned about the romanticism of robbers, but most were just thugs. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Call them robbers or bandits. Some are legendary figures. Listen to stories about historical crimes on Criminalia now, plus the cocktails and mocktails inspired by each. Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [25:20]
Jake Hanrahan
I'm Jake Hanrahan, journalist and documentary filmmaker. Away Days is my new project reporting on countercultures on the fringes of society all across the world. Live from the underground, you'll discover no rules fighting, Japanese street racing, Brazilian favela life, and much more. All real, completely uncensored. This is unique access with straightforward on the ground reporting. We're taking you deep into the dirt without the usual airs and graces of legacy media, a way that it showcases what the mainstream cannot access. Real underground reporting with real people. No excuses. For the past decade, I've been going to places I shouldn't be, meeting people I shouldn't know. Now you can come along too. Listen to the Away Days podcast, reporting from the underbelly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [26:24]
Lester Holt
Welcome back to the Taking a Walk podcast.
- [26:27]
Tom Yamas
So when you're taking on something new, let's just use we can use any example, but I can use Hamilton as well as an example. We can use any of your body of work as an example. How do you prepare and research what you're embarking upon? Can you give us a glimpse into that, what that process is about and what it's like?
- [26:53]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Yes, I'm a nerd at my core, so books are my friend. Reading is my friend, particularly with roles like Hamilton or the Scottsboro Boys, Heywood Patterson or shuffle along. When I have the opportunity to play biographical characters, be in biographical work, so play, you know, real life human beings who existed in history. It gives me an opportunity to really latch on to some pillars, some signposts. As I Build my map to the character as I construct my. My foundation, my structure, the structure from which I will carry forward the piece. And so I really like to research historically. I like to read about the characters and the people themselves, particularly if they have autobiographies, so I can get a feeling for what they were experiencing, what they were seeing, what they were feeling. It just makes the job a lot easier. And then once my brain kind of has the material with which to synthesize the piece, then I can kind of move forward into the text itself of the show and the music of the show and what the show is trying to say and kind of pour it all in in that manner.
- [28:07]
Tom Yamas
How long is your research generally, or does it depend on the role?
- [28:11]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Depends on the role and how much time you have.
- [28:15]
Tom Yamas
Is there sometimes moments that you don't have as much time that you really. You need to really accelerate the research?
- [28:22]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Sure. And it also, again, it depends on the piece in the process. Like, for example, I had two weeks to go into Hamilton, so I didn't have that long to read Gore Vidal's Burr, you know, so I kind of dove into what I could of it, and I dove into some other dramaturgical material. But I also recognize that a lot of. A lot of that work was done already for me by the biographer and by Lin Manuel and the artist. And so what I had to do is I had to find the person, and I had to find the human experience, the emotional experience that this person goes through through the wheel of the material.
- [29:08]
Tom Yamas
So it's nuanced, depending on very much. So let's talk about the music and how, first of all, tell me how excited you are about this. This new project, the new song, the new album, and tell us how this project came together.
- [29:29]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Well, I'm very excited about the new song. It's. It's one of. It's one of my more recent constructions, you know, one of the more recent songs I've written. I've been writing for a while, for a couple of years, just writing as things inspired me, as relationships took me to the depths I've been writing over the course of years. And I think I finally hit a point where I decided I wanted to put the material out into the world, but maybe as a song that I wrote, that was really just inspired when I was reading a book, James Baldwin's the Fire Next Time. And I really love the way the piece came together, particularly with my collaborators who helped me with, you know, the arrangements and the parts of the song. And I really love the response that the song has gotten from the people whom I performed it for, I've been able, you know, I performed it to some of my live concerts over the last year or so. It's. And so I'm very excited that now I get to put it out into the world. And that now when I'm performing and people ask where can I get this song? I'll be able to tell them.
- [30:39]
Tom Yamas
And the message of the song, I think now is very important, but I think we were discussing this a bit offline. It's important every time. A message of hope and resilience. Can you talk about those messages in particular?
- [31:02]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Yes. The song really. The song for me is about the positive potential we have as a human society in this moment of time. You know, more than just a song about hope or connection or kindness or lessons, human lessons. The song is about the fact that while I hope we are going to make the right decisions, it is a real question that we have to ask ourselves. We are beyond the point of blind hope and we are into the period of responsibility where we will have to make choices. We cannot just be blithely carried along. And that's why the song says, maybe, maybe we're gonna make it alright. Maybe not today, but maybe tomorrow night. And I believe we will. The message ultimately is a positive one. You know, maybe the only reason we've committed these crimes is to understand all the pain and senseless blame just so we could make it right.
- [32:02]
Tom Yamas
And when you're performing that song or any of your music, can you describe the feeling when you know it's really connecting deeply with an audience, as an artist, how that makes you feel?
- [32:20]
Brandon Victor Dixon
I was gonna say something very silly like, good.
- [32:26]
Tom Yamas
Well, the answer is it makes you feel lousy, I'm sure.
- [32:30]
Brandon Victor Dixon
No, but I think you know more than how it makes me feel. What? The thing, the thing that I. That I. That I am feeling. What I am feeling is, I think is alignment, is connection. It's when the chemistry between the music and the message and the audience, we are sharing a real moment and they are hearing the message and they are feeling something. I think the whole point of art is to bridge the gap of understanding between us as human beings and to help. It's a tool to help raise us, to expand our consciousness, expand the consciousness of myself and others. That's really the connective goal of art and how I try to use art. And so when that is happening, when I'm singing, performing the music and the audience is really ingesting the message, I feel that the levity of that alignment, I think, is what I feel. I feel. I feel joy, I feel peace, I feel. I feel whole. How about that?
- [33:38]
Tom Yamas
And it's the importance of community.
- [33:41]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Absolutely.
- [33:41]
Tom Yamas
Which is so taken for granted. I think sometimes that community. Not by artists. I think by those of us in society, we don't think about what community means.
- [33:55]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Well, I was. There are some who take it for granted, who have it in this and who ignore it altogether, who don't or who don't participate in it or don't feel the need to foster environments that create it. You know, we do forget the importance of community. Forgetting the importance of community is the only way you can defund public parks and defund arts education from programs and defund nonprofits that help supplement the lacking arts education or recreational programs for, you know, certain municipalities and states, etc. So, you know, it's the loss of that that creates that absence.
- [34:45]
Tom Yamas
So the album. Are you still working on elements of the album or is it. Is most of it completed?
- [34:52]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Most of it's completed, but I am still working on some elements of the album. So there are. There are. A number of songs have been completely recorded and are ready to go, but there are about two more songs I'm.
- [35:03]
Tom Yamas
Working on and you're gonna tease us with singles coming out from time to time to kind of build up.
- [35:12]
Brandon Victor Dixon
There will be titillation, my friend. It will off and on. Off and on. Yeah.
- [35:19]
Tom Yamas
Now, who are the other collaborators that are part of this that you want to showcase?
- [35:25]
Brandon Victor Dixon
So I wrote the words in the music myself, but as far as the record is concerned, it was produced by myself and Ryan Shaw.
- [35:36]
Tom Yamas
I've heard of that guy.
- [35:37]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Yes. Wonderful, wonderful artist in his own right. And Devon Degali and the. On piano we have Isaac Harlan. And the piano arrangement is done by Greg Borowski and James Sampliner. And I have Jamie Tate on the drums. And the strings are done by Ray Angry and Rick Hip Flores.
- [35:56]
Tom Yamas
Heard of him too?
- [35:57]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Yes. Ray Angry. You've heard of him?
- [35:59]
Tom Yamas
Listen to the podcast with Ryan Shaw and Ray Angry. A little cross plug of the Taking a Walk other episode.
- [36:06]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Please do. You will not be disappointed. And additionally, I have. I have. Oh, no, I think I said everybody. Rick Flores and Ray Angry did my string arrangement and Jamie Tate on the drums.
- [36:20]
Tom Yamas
How did you pick that group? Did it all sort of come together just, you know, organically or through managers or things of that nature?
- [36:27]
Brandon Victor Dixon
They came together organically. I've worked with James Sampliner and Greg, some other songs they Produced some other songs of mine. And so I kind of worked with them on that. And I've performed with Isaac Harlan. He plays for me sometimes. So Isaac played for me. Rick Hip Flores and I went to college together. Rick and I play together a lot as well. So I go to Rick a lot for arranging a fair amount. And Ray and I began to work together recently as well. And so I wanted to ready to put his little flavor on it. He also covers the bass as well in the project. And I've worked with Ryan Shaw for many, many years. Ryan also does the vocal arrangements on the piece.
- [37:11]
Tom Yamas
What incredible talents that you're working with.
- [37:15]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Incredible talents and incredible human beings.
- [37:18]
Tom Yamas
Yeah. Inspiring and just a sense of great radiation positivity. And back to that community word.
- [37:27]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Absolutely. It takes a village.
- [37:28]
Tom Yamas
It's an amazing community. I want to ask you about that, that message that you, I'm sure, have been asked about before. So I apologize in advance that the direct message that you gave to our vice president elect at the time, Mike Pence, after a Hamilton performance. Can you share that story?
- [37:54]
Brandon Victor Dixon
You mean just how it all came about? Well, it was after what is always a very contentious election. And, you know, Hamilton is also. It was at the height of Hamilton's popularity as well. You know, Hamilton communicates a very particular message about the founding of America and about American values and the fabric of America, of values that were, you know, really debated about over during that election. And so when Vice President Pence was coming to see the show, the producers and the security of the theater always get an alert if a particularly high profile person is coming because the different security measures that need to be put in place. And so when the producers heard that the vice president elect was coming because of the way Hamilton was platformed at the time, they felt the need to. They felt it would be a positive and responsible thing to make an address. And so they reached out to me and asked me if I would be willing to do so. Now, this is also the time of year when Broadway shows are raising money for Broadway Cares, Equity Fights Aid, which means that at the end of the show, after the curtain call, we stop everything and we make our plea to the audience to donate to this cause. And so this night, instead of going to the Broadway care speech, we went to our speech to Mike Pence. And when the producers showed me what they wanted to write, we actually got together as a cast and talked about it and talked about what we were going to do. And in all honesty, I thought I was going to miss the opportunity to deliver the message, because like a lot of high profile people who attend the show, he got up to leave before the bows. And so I just had to stop everything and be like, okay, just, you know, before you go, sir. And then, you know, we spoke our piece.
- [39:55]
Tom Yamas
That's incredible. My God. So in closing, I want to ask you after roughly, what, two decades in, I mean, in the business, how do you stay so incredibly inspired and motivated and supercharged about what you're doing?
- [40:20]
Brandon Victor Dixon
The truth is that I'm not always. And the thing I think I'm learning is to not judge myself on the ebbs and just understand that they are the time you take to prepare for the, the flows. And, and I think that's how I keep moving forward. It's not a relentless push. I've, I've found the rhythm of the ebb and the flow of the cycle and I just try to ensure that the flow pushes me further every time.
- [40:49]
Tom Yamas
Wow, that's pretty, pretty darn Zen.
- [40:51]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Like, I'm trying, I'm trying.
- [40:54]
Tom Yamas
Anything else you're dreaming up that you want to share in terms of other projects or that you'd aspire to take on?
- [41:02]
Brandon Victor Dixon
You know, right now I want to continue to grow the areas I'm in. There are shows I want to do, they're on television and on stage. And I want to continue to share the music. I want to continue to put these to tease you all with these singles as the year moves on. And then hopefully you can come together and you all will enjoy the album when it comes out.
- [41:23]
Tom Yamas
Oh, that's so great. Congratulations. Congratulations on it, Brandon. And congratulations on everything. But thank you for, you know, continuing to give us great joy in your work and your artistry. It's really a privilege to have you on Taking a Walk.
- [41:39]
Brandon Victor Dixon
Thank you for the time and the support and thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure.
- [41:44]
Lester Holt
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends friends and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.
- [42:03]
Buzz Knight
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- [42:51]
Ryan Seacrest
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- [43:22]
Holly Fry
Explore the Winding Halls of Historical True Crime with Holly Fry and Maria Tremarchi, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the Highwayman suggests men dominated the field, but tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrars, known as the Wicked lady who terrorized England in the mid-1600s. Her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Find more crime and cocktails on Criminalia. Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [43:56]
Jake Hanrahan
I'm Jake Hanrahan, journalist and documentary filmmaker. Away Days is my new project reporting on countercultures on the fringes of society all across the world. Live from the underground, you'll discover no rules fighting, Japanese street racing, Brazilian favela life and much more. All real, completely uncensored. Listen to the Away Days podcast, reporting from the underbelly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [44:27]
Ryan Seacrest
A body, a suspect, and a hundred years of silence. Buried Bones is a podcast about the forgotten crimes history tried to leave behind.
- [44:36]
Brandon Victor Dixon
A common misperception about serial predators is that every single time they commit a crime, they commit it the same way.
- [44:46]
Ryan Seacrest
The past has a way of talking, if you know what to listen for.
- [44:50]
Brandon Victor Dixon
New episodes every Wednesday on the Exactly Right Network.
- [44:53]
Ryan Seacrest
Listen to Buried bones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast.