Cover photo © 2024 Peter Hurley

Blues vocalist, songwriter and recording artist Tomiko Dixon’s name holds a catchy rhythm within its alternating rounded vowels and clicky consonants. TO-MI-KO-DIX-ON. Once heard, it is emblazoned on the mind like a hook in an upbeat tune. It suits her personality. Her speech patterns are fast, sing-songy and hip, her movements are funky smooth, and her singing fills the room with the most soulful strains heard this far north of Memphis. Born and raised in Chicago, Tomiko is blessed with the DNA, the desire, the savvy and the unquenchable spirit of one of the post war era’s greatest songsmiths. Her grandfather is Blues poet laureate, Willie Dixon.

The second child of seven born to Willie’s Dixon and Elnora Franklin’s daughter Johnnie, Tomiko grew up at 80th and Bishop in the senior Dixon’s household until the age of 5. “My mother was very young when I was a child and felt more like my older sister,” she offers. “I never met my birth father. My mom and her siblings and my grandparents raised me. My grandmother Elnora was the matriarch of the house, we called her ‘Mommy.’ And we called Willie Dixon ‘Granddaddy,’ but he was more like a father. Half the time we were at my stepmother Marie’s. As a child we were at everybody’s house. We were all raised together, believe it or not. It does take village, after all,” she laughs.

These auspicious beginnings nurtured a strength and active imagination in the young girl.

“I was known affectionately as ‘The Little Chocolate Chip.’ And of course, music was everywhere. I knew Granddaddy was famous. Everywhere we went in the community he was treated with respect and some deference,” Tomiko recounts.

“You can imagine the names of those who stopped by: Katherine Davis, Barbara LeShoure, Big Time Sarah, Otis Clay, Eddie Shaw. I always heard stories about Queen Victoria Spivey, Koko Taylor and even Elvis.”

In addition to musically-rich non-familial guests, many of Tomiko’s aunts and uncles played on the circuit as well.

“My Uncle Freddie performed, my Aunt BiBi performed, Uncle Jr. (Willie Dixon Jr.) performed and Uncle Bobby did too. All of their friends were musicians who would be in and out of our house.”

Jump-cut to Tomiko’s teenage years, when music floods the consciousness from sources outside the home.

“I would say I suffered from depression then,” she candidly offers. “I was trying to figure out life. I used music to help me with that– different songs to help me feel good or take me to another place.”

This multi-talented heir to the Dixon family tree of creative gifts found it hard to choose a path.

“I didn’t know what to do. My grandfather and my grandmother were gone by then and they had been my backbone. When my grandfather died it just snatched my heart. When my grandmother died it just took everything I had. I felt lost,” she confesses. “But this painful period did lead to life experience. So, by the time I reached my twenties I had a lot to write about.”

Tomiko’s writing is a lifelong pursuit and comes from a personal place.

“When I was a little girl, even up until now, I always wrote little poems,” she says. “But I would also sing other people’s songs. I loved Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Cindy Lauper, Cher. Celine Dion was a big one too. My friends weren’t into this type of pop, they were into R&B. But I wanted to sing ‘The Titanic Song,’” she laughs. “I did imagine I would come around to the Blues eventually, but I tried to fight it,” she admits. “I didn’t want to be categorized as just Blues. I think all of the progeny of famous people want to do something different, we want to go our own way to make a name for ourselves.”

But things changed for Tomiko when she was met with a slight to her grandfather’s name. As she began to pursue singing as a path, someone told her that Willie’s Dixon’s name didn’t mean anything in the business.

“That fueled me. What do you mean his name don’t mean nothin’?! All of the sacrifice our family made for the Blues? You mean to tell me my whole childhood was in vain? You know, my grandmother, Elnora, came up from Mississippi near Clarksdale with her sisters to escape the devastation of the Great Flood. When the Levee Breaks is not just a song to me but a part of my family’s personal history. No, no, my grandparents came from it, and Granddaddy was a great musical artist who spoke to it. You’d better believe the Dixon name means something.”

A career was launched and a goal galvanized to make certain of just that.

“So, I got out here and started doing music, named myself Tomiko Dixon, Willie Dixon’s granddaughter– It might have annoyed some people at first but they came around to it when they realized his spirit lived on within me and I was sincere. Even I realized that. There’s nothing I can do about it, it’s just who I am. Keeping the Blues alive, that’s my calling.”

When Tomiko speaks of a calling, she means it in its true sense. But it’s taken time to truly internalize, as a true calling must.

“It took me awhile to accept it and realize my role. To work on it more, to work on myself more to improve my communication with people and things of that nature. I was like a fish out of water in the beginning. All I knew was, this is what I’m doing now. I wrote some songs from some poems I had and it sounded good, and people were telling me I sounded good. Granddaddy had told me I was “as smart as a whip” and that encouraged me to find information to do things in the business efficiently. I felt like I could make it in this industry if I learned people more.”

It might come as a shock to some to hear that Tomiko is not intrinsically the extrovert that she presents to the outside world today; being a “people person” did not come naturally.

“I’d never been a people person,” she laughs. “It is a learned skill. I love my privacy, that is where my creative ideas really come from. But I play well with others. I’m an honest person and I warn people ahead of time. I bite my tongue when needed; I don’t say bad things about anybody. I feel I can help since that is my mission. I’ll find something I love about most everything. I won’t criticize just for the sake of it, that’s not me. And I don’t make myself out to be ‘It’s what I like.’ It’s not about what I like, it’s about what the people like. I’ve learned that over time, and I can be a trusted sounding board to my friends and musicians who consult me in this business.”

Embracing this role and forging this identity has not come without some confusion and sacrifice.

“This business will put you in your place, so to speak. If I want to do some R&B, I’ll be asked to sing more Blues. If I want do this then I’ll hear, ‘do that.’ While keeping the Blues alive I want to do what makes me happy in the process too,” Tomiko asserts. “I believe I’ve found that balance. If not, perhaps it is a lifelong pursuit and I can accept that.”

And what is that main thing that does make her most happy?

“What I love most is songwriting. I’m a kick-ass songwriter,” she says matter-of-factly. “If I have some Blues I’m gonna funk it up, if I have some Blues I’m gonna rock it up, if I got some Blues I’m gonna jazz it up. This is where I have my fun, I get to put a little bit o’ me in there.”

Back to the formative years and to a life-changing moment.

“When I first decided to sing and went to my Uncle Teddy and my Uncle Bobby. They would sit at the piano with me and work up some material and get me ready. They were very supportive. Then, before I even knew it was time, they took me over to Uncle Billy, Billy Branch. Billy was working at Artis’s at the time. I’m thinking, I’m just going to watch him perform and I’ll pick up some tips and things like that. But they threw me on that stage and it scared the hell out of me! I was up there shaking,” she giggles,

“Man, I was so nervous. I had butterflies, trouble breathin’. But I never let it show, Momma always told me ‘Never let ‘em see you sweat, Baby.’ Well, I started singing Wang-Dang-Doodle like Koko Taylor; with the growl and everything. I remember that night so well because Shirley King was in the house. And Billy called Shirley on the stage with me. And when she started up ‘Tell Automatic Slim…” and I’m like, she’s doin’ this effortlessly, you know? She was just talkin’ it out while I was doing everything like Koko Taylor to put it over. As a result, I wasn’t havin’ fun but she was havin’ fun. Well, I learned from her ‘I’ve got to sing this in my own voice.’”

Tomiko is a quick study. The first time out she learned “the most important lesson there is!

“Next thing you know, I went home and started practicing. I started listening to Denise LaSalle, Etta James, Bonnie Raitt — different women who sung Blues and did it their way. Well, I learned that if I’m gonna do this I’ve got to learn to breathe properly but also put my oomph in there. I had Koko’s growl ‘cause I had worked so hard on it, you know like ‘Yow!’—and I was gonna keep that,” she laughs. “The long and short of it is, I figured it out to where I got comfortable on stage. And now I am having fun!”

In 2024, Tomiko’s role in the business and art of Blues music is myriad, far-reaching, creative and at times administrative. Consider the many activities that she has taken on with her mission: -She is a regular writer of her own column, The Tomiko Dixon Grand Blues Review, in Lazie Indie Magazine for Founding Editor and fellow-musician Jay Pillai. -She has recently taken on a supporting role at the Willie Dixon Blues Foundation for her aunt, Jacqueline Dixon, President and CEO of the organization. -Since 2010, she continues to be a Voting Member of the Grammy Recording Academy. -She is a fundraising assistant for the Memphis Blues Society’s Membership Director Mark Caldwell and a frequent guest on his Radio Memphis show. -She is a performing and recording artist with over 60 published songs and writer of over 400 songs! Her most recent killer digital single, The Real Thang, is under consideration for inclusion in a film soundtrack-in-progress. -She has forged a partnership with Grammy Award winning multi-instrumentalist, vocalist & producer EJ Ouellette & his Whole Music Studios in Newbury, Mass. on a CD in-progress: Dixon Sings Dixon, a compilation of Willie Dixon penned songs.

If this weren’t enough, she is a Chicago Blues Hall of Fame (CBHF) inductee and has just been appointed Ambassador/Coordinator to the CBHF by President and CEO of talent agency MarMax Entertainment and Talent Buyer at Buddy Guy’s Legends, Mark Maddox.

“Oh, we are going to resurrect the Hall of Fame ceremonies that were suspended by Covid since 2019. I’m looking forward to being a partner along with Mark and others. We lost both longtime host Michael Packer and coordinator Garland Floyd in recent years, and we’ll be dedicating this year’s event in their memory. After Garland passed I wondered if the Hall Of Fame would continue. Mark Maddox told me, ‘Yes it will and you’re going to do it.’ I said to him, ‘With you, right? I knew some day I’d be working with your company and now I know how!’ she laughs.

“It’s a good match. Our goal is to give recognition to these deserving Midwest region and Chicago artists while they can enjoy it. Some are national legends and some might not get national acclaim but are Chicago legends.” The 2024 honorees will include vocalists Shirley Johnson, Theo Huff, Gary Martin, Stan Mosely, producer Michael Freeman “and some other surprises! And we’ll have the Mike Wheeler Band up there kickin’ it for our inductees to perform with.”

“Tomiko had been helping Garland Floyd behind-the-scenes with our ceremony event in the past and was a natural choice to bring on board,” said Maddox. “She brings renewed enthusiasm to our organization and, with the family legacy she possesses and the career she has had, she is perfectly poised to step into the role!”

The CBHF Awards Ceremony will take place on August 4, 2024.

Ms. Dixon is a woman-on-the-go and not to be denied. Her legacy asks it from her, her spirit wants it for her and her many talents are deserving of it. And she knows she is not alone in her quest.

“I thank my all of my family for their support and love,” she says. “I am a proud member. Praises to my mom, Johnnie T. Dixon, my uncle Freddie Dixon, the late Bobby Dixon, my Auntie Jacqueline Dixon at Blues Heaven Foundation, my longtime manager Tim Price and Uncle Kehti Gamba for always supporting me.”

TO-MI-KO-DIX-ON. That sound is hard to forget and she is MEM-OR-ABLE.