I can’t see Wilson Dixon all that clearly when he comes on stage at Te Auaha’s Tapere Nui stage: he’s somewhat obscured by a big hat and dark glasses. But it doesn’t take long for me to apprehend his presence. It’s seasoned, relaxed, and delightfully laconic. 

Dixon is a country singer. He hails from Cripple Creek, Colorado. If nothing else, his accent says so. “I don’t know how you got to this country,” he drawls to a nearly full house, and proceeds to offer an account of his preparation ritual for the long distance flight that brought him here. This sets us up for what’s to follow.

We learn about his mum’s good work, why jazz is like making love and what happened when a man swallowed a tray of billiard balls.

All that’s a prelude to his first song: ‘It Ain’t No Good’. Like the half dozen that follow, it’s a number characterised by wry humour and clever verbal sallies, like why it’s a problem that shark rhymes with Jacques. Or what a wife really means when she tells her husband, “Go stick your head in the oven.”

Dixon’s family, including twin brothers and an ex-wife, get an affectionate going over.

The performance is laced with reference to Dixon’s six albums. Given their titles, we can’t be sure that all of them exist, but we’re invited to buy them after the show if we want to experience a very specific kind of nostalgia.

What makes this performance so satisfying and such a fine experience of comedy is Dixon’s mastery of content and delivery. Here is a man in a cowboy hat with a guitar who doesn’t move; he just talks and sings. Ah, but such talk! And such songs! 

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