Dixon Native Marty James Returns to Perform For Hometown Crowd

As a child, One Block Radius singer Marty James would enjoy the Dixon May Fair along with his friends and family, taking in one of the most beloved traditions that Dixon has to offer.

But on Wednesday, James returned in quite a different capacity. He opened up the show at the Snoop Dogg concert to a hometown crowd filled with many of his friends and family.

“I was a little nervous to be honest,” James said, adding that none of his family had seen him perform prior to Wednesday’s show.

But James didn’t miss a beat during One Block Radius’ performance. His soulful singing style on tracks such as “Steppin’ Away,” and “You Got Me,” showed his musical chops to many of his fans in the audience.

James moved away from Dixon at the age of 10, he said. In Dixon, he attended Silveyville Elementary School and Anderson Elementary School before moving to Chico to be with his father.

James still has family in Dixon, he said, and makes the trip from his Los Angeles home to Dixon throughout the year whenever he can. On Wednesday, James' stage family including rapper Z-man and vocalist MDA joined him to warm things up before the Snoop Dogg performance.

James’ career has set up collaborations with the likes of artist such as Snoop Dogg, Rick Rock and Lil Jon, but also with Bay Area legends such as Baby Bash and N2Deep, both of whom joined One Block Radius for some songs Wednesday. In addition, The Federation joined in for “I Wear My Stunna Glasses at Night,” on which James sings the hook of the song.

James said he would have liked to have stayed in Dixon visiting his family and going to the May Fair after the show, but said he needed to return to his LA studio to work on his latest production.

After James’ set Wednesday, One Block Radius walked among the crowd, greeting fans and taking photographs with them and Baby Bash and N2Deep followed soon thereafter. James said he hopes to return to Dixon to visit friends and family within two months.  

Check out One Block Radius on their Facebook page.

For more on the Dixon May Fair click here.