Features : Pastor Joseph Dixon sings “I Heard an Old Old Story” to lift up the soul

Pastor Joseph Oliver Dixon’s aim for his music is to lift people up in their hearts and spirits, and so the song he chose to promote at the start of a recording career is the almost hundred-year-old hymn “I Heard an Old Old Story.”

“It is a song that suits the soul,” he said. “It is an inspirational song, and it is ideal for everyone, young and old. It produces spiritual healing.”

I heard about His healing
Of His cleansing power revealing
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see

He began releasing tracks during Covid, when he stopped holding services in his church in Minneapolis. He put out four albums in 2021, Revival in My Soul, Music in the Sun, Heavenly Music, and Dynamic Sounds of Music.

He performs and produces all his music and has, he says, hundreds of songs ready to go. He has a home studio with a KORG OASYS workstation that he says can produce any sound he wants.

For instance, many of his songs sound as if they are a recording of a church choir, but “it’s a one-man band singing.

“It’s just me. It sounds like a choir, but I sing in multiple voices.”

In addition to singing gospel favorites, Pastor Joseph also writes and sings original material.

His subjects are current events as well as spiritual matters. He has written songs on the war in Afghanistan, floods in Florida, California wildfires and prisoners of war.

“It’s a wide variety of things I write and sing about, contemporary music as well as church music.”

He says he “records music freely” with his OASYS. He takes some inspiration from it, from the vibration and the colors of the lights and the sounds. One night, he said, he wrote more than 25 songs, and all of them were mixed and ready for release.

What he really wants to do is “appeal to the hearts of people, to uplift them,” even a song such as the one, not yet released, on the California wildfires.

“It talks about a beautiful California city loved by everyone, and it zeroes in on the beauty of California, and also the wildfire burning there, but it has a soothing and dynamic sound.”

He writes songs based on Scripture, from the gospels, Psalms and from the Old Testament, such as “Echoes from the Burning Bush.”

The music he writes, not just the lyrics, is contemporary as well as spiritual. Two tracks on the albums he has out are instrumental dance tracks, “Dance Contest” from Revival in My Soul and “Village Band” from Music in the Sun.

“I want to build people up in their spirits and let them feel revived,” he said, “and my music is geared so that they can sing along. You can worship and praise and use them in the ballroom. It’s intended to suit every occasion.”

He believes music itself can bring spiritual healing. He tells the story of the evil spirit that overtook King Saul (from 1 Samuel 16), and how his servants called on David to come play music.

“Music rejuvenates the soul and gives peace, joy and happiness, something that anyone can relate to. As I said, if music be the food of life, eat thereof or die. That shows the importance of music. It’s the universal language.”

Pastor Joseph recorded “I Heard an Old Old Story” (also known as “Victory in Jesus”) with all that in mind.

“It’s geared for praise and worship. It relates to the soul. It has an uplifting spirit. It’s about Christ, the gospel, the hope of salvation, eternal life. It gives you a good feeling and provides healing for the soul.”

Connect to Joseph Oliver Dixon on these platforms for new music and videos.

“I Heard an Old, Old Story”
Amazon Music
Apple Music
Spotify
YouTube