Bio:

Violinist, tenor guitarist and singer Carl Dickens weaves a lifelong love of language into playful, potent, honest songs. Dickens – a former journalist - fuses classical training with influences spanning Celtic, jazz and pop, delivering poetic stories, stream-of-consciousness rants and reflections on personal and societal dysfunction on his debut album, Pith and Vinegar. Based on the Bellarine, Dickens is self-taught on the four-string tenor guitar but it’s his renowned violin artistry, honed from years hopping genres in orchestras, bands and duos, that elevates his music with textural layers and aching, impassioned solos. The wordsmith’s distinctive, vulnerable voice draws inspiration from the warmth of Cat Stevens and the brooding intensity of David Gray. His full 10-song album is now available on CD direct from the artist via email at carl_dickens@outlook.com. Pith and Vinegar is also for sale digitally at bandcamp.com (https://carldickens.bandcamp.com) Four songs - Trilobite, Filaments, Doubt of the Benefit and Close Enough – are available on streaming platforms. Lyrical excerpts: “You looked beyond this hall of mirrors, merlots and frozen dinners / You’re still living in a real world of pain / All of it so safe, so sanitized” - Doubt of the Benefit “You can’t break if you don’t bond, so what’s one more lily pad upon the pond / In nonchalance we trust, until love itself will rust” - Filaments “She turned from the dawn, unlearned who she was / Left switch-blade friends to their playpens, to chase some just cause” - In Clayman’s Terms “Cupid took some shot of madness, but his aim was true and I saw clouds in the shape of you / My brain replayed ill-fated play-by-plays each day on pay-per-view” - Trilobite “Pissants gonna piss and moan, but you can’t stay where you’ve outgrown/ Could you paint some brave new landscapes of your own” - Tame Things “Thought this world some tasting plate with pleasure sought for pleasure’s sake / The aftertaste has made you think again / Maybe you’re not just some whisper in the wind, meant to drift along this urgent sea and marinate in make believe” -Close Enough