Musical Experimentation and Genre Exploration with Dion Kerr

Fresh off a tour opening for Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Dion shares his takes on musical exploration, genre development, and collaboration. Dion Kerr is a forward-thinking, multi-dimensional artist (multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger, songwriter, photographer, and videographer) born and raised in South Florida.  Kerr’s work reflects a broad range of influences and mediums.  He has toured and recorded worldwide as a leader and a sideman to various groups spanning multiple genres. Dion Kerr displays his unwavering talent as a producer, multi-instrumentalist, and conceptual artist.  Utilizing acoustic and electric elements, he blends a wide range of influences and styles into a cohesive sound that expands the limitations of genre-bound music. There are hints of Dion’s eclectic taste in his records' melodic groove-based instrumentals. Experimentation is essential in Dion’s process and is always represented in vivid fluidity. Dion can be seen at some of the most renowned festivals, venues, studios, and galleries with many great young and upcoming artists of all art forms.  Kerr has shared the stage with Ignacio Berroa, Nicholas Payton, Lillias White, Godwin Louis, Jean Caze, Emmet Cohen, Immanuel Wilkins, Justin Brown, Tivon Pennicott, and most recently Marcus Strickland coming off of their European tour of festivals and venues such as Ronnies Scott’s in London.  Dion co-founded the band The Smoogies, who released their debut album Planet Smoogies with trumpeter Nicholas Payton and People Music; they are set to release their next record, a live album, in 2024.  Dion was the lead engineer and co-producer of Seafoam Walls record XVI; he also played guitar (formerly bass) in the live incarnation, released on Thurston Moore and Eva Printz's label Ecstatic Peace Library, which was recorded and produced in his home studio.  They recently got off tour, opening up for Unknown Mortal Orchestra for their US tour dates, and have secured a sponsorship with Fender.  He is also a key member in many other highly sought-after bands in South Florida and New York art scenes.   His musical career began early on by being billed with the Dave Leibman quartet while he was still in High School, leading them to reconnect at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in NY, where he attended school on scholarship.  He has been seen at venues and festivals such as The Blue Note, Sevilla Jazz Festival, Martinique Jazz Festival, Ground Up Festival, Guatemala Jazz Festival, Quebec City Jazz Festival, Young Jazz Festival, Casa Del Jazz, and Adrienne Arsht Center. He has toured North America and Europe extensively with different bands.  Dion has scored music for films featured at SXSW, New Orleans Film, and Miami Film Festivals.   Dion Kerr’s new solo record, set to be released in 2023, follows up his latest releases, Ivy, which also features Jeff Parker, Bubby Lewis, Adam O’Farrill, Reptile Ground, Echoes of Lost Time, and Ruby.  His new record showcases his expansive musical knowledge and arranging abilities, featuring himself on bass, vocals, recording, production, and mixing.  His YouTube series Dialogues has been his most recent outlet, which features a wide variety of musical artists that he performs together in an intimate duo setting, which showcases the individuality of each featured artist and how a musical conversation can take place in hopes of bringing people more together. Check out his Dialogues here - https://youtube.com/@dionkerrdialogues And check out Scoobert Doobert's music at - https://scoobertdoobert.pizza Podcast Produced by Beformer