Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba. Photo by Marina Chavez.

Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba provides all with proof that following your heart may one’s best avenue.

A native of Boca Raton, Fla., he said, “When I started Dashboard six years ago, it was a reaction to the last band I was in at the time. We all thought we were so intellectual. But really we were thinking about music like mathematicians. I had to reinterpret myself.”

He decided his music was best suited to be played solo, just him and his guitar. And in an unusual move, Carrabba decided to give himself a band-esque name, Dashboard Confessional. “I don’t like rules. If I want to play with a band or by myself it is up to me.”

That decision to strike out on his own, albeit with a name that sounded more like a multi-member musical ensemble, put Carrabba on a paved freeway straight into Stardomville.

In an organic yet ironic twist of fate, Dashboard Confessional has since added permanent band members. “I picked up a band as I went along. I invited people to play with me and we all just kind of stayed together. It was nice to have the company on the road. And everyone really added their own something to the music.”

Carrabba is a beautiful man in both the melodic and physical sense. He has a clean-cut Calvin Klein model physique dressed in a permanent suit of custom-designed hint-of-bad-boy tattoos.

He said of his unerasable keepsake album, “Each tattoo reflects a memory from something I experienced in my life. They also help me to permanently commemorate events like being on the road and other special moments in my life.”

Though Carrabba did not address any particular snapshot he wears, one wonders if there is a space-suited statue among the ink-and-needle artworks. That’s because his career really went into the stratosphere after he won a coveted Moonman from MTV2 for “Artist of the Year” in 2002.

Shortly after receiving the gaudy but significant statue, another career-cementing event occurred for the soulful songster. Again it came in an otherworldly form — of sorts.

This time Dashboard was riding the coat, err, capetails of a superhero. His single “Vindicated” was included on the “Spider-Man 2” movie soundtrack. The result was a No. 2 position on rock radio across America for the song, and a spider-grip on rock-star status for Carrabba.

Carrabba, who is a self-proclaimed “audiophile and music geek,” shared that his career has brought him unimaginable highlights thus far. “I was invited to Neil Young’s house for a barbeque. Neil and his wife were so incredible to me. And what singer-songwriter doesn’t listen religiously to Neil Young, right?”

“At that party I also met Crosby, Stills and Nash, and Willie Nelson. I pretty much met everyone I have ever loved musically. The real-life moment was running into [Pearl Jam’s] Eddie Vedder there. He is a big, big, huge hero of mine.”

Then, as if Carrabba is just one of us regular folks and unaware of his own fame status, he gushed, “He told people he really loved my voice. Other people told me that he doesn’t like anybody. And later, on a couple of occasions when I ran into him, he remembered who I was.”

That honest wonder-of-it-all still makes Carrabba often feel he “needs to be smart, as success can be fleeting.”

He said, “As cheesy as it sounds I am so grateful to have this chance at having success at doing this. Me being able to be a musician has been a realization of all my dreams. It is that feeling of the dream come true that everyone is looking for I guess.”

He reflects for a moment, “We never really live in the moment. And I am now making a real effort to do just that. Thanks to this band, really, I have learned how to savor every moment of it all.”

However, not all glitters in the global rock-star scene he now calls home. Carrabba said he is surprised at the recurring press descriptions that label him as an indie punk artist.

“That’s bizarre to me. It is probably because I came up as a punk. You are a product of what shapes you. I guess that’s where that comes from. I mean we are on VH1. To some that’s not cool. To me, I couldn’t be prouder.”

And Dashboard’s latest album, “Dusk and Summer,” has been called his deepest and richest yet. “The album has been a big success — hell if I know why. They say it’s all varied and they all sound related to me. But I think people are reacting out to the album because they feel that I was trying to interpret more. My songwriting is much stronger and, sonically, we are in a better place. And I like to say it’s smoother, like Superchunk or The Beach Boys. More pop-rock band style; that lush nature of that sound without it being obnoxious. You don’t even notice the complexity, you know?”

Like a true tortured artist, he is wanting of something more. “The critics would love for me to just do another “Dusk.” And that is exactly why I think I won’t. The last album just proved that to me. It makes me long for that original edginess I had.”

Dashboard’s shows have been called a mix of rock and a revivalist meeting. “It is so touching to me. People feel the music. We are all there sharing for that short time. We all find the spirit together I suppose,” the Pied Piper of Pop said.

“I was afraid with all the big venues that was being lost. But I know now it’s not about how many are in the audience. When I was playing to a room of 65 it felt the same. It is about spirit. It is about the group gathered genuinely enjoying themselves. I guess I have managed to carry that feeling into the big arenas. I thought we’d be robbed of that as we got bigger. I guess we’ve not.”

He thinks about the solo days, though. “This summer — after this tour — I was just talking about going back to just me and my guitar or maybe with one other guy. The band is tired. They have been working so hard. And I want to — need to — refresh. I guess it’s not a surprise now since you’re press, huh?”

And with sincere enthusiasm he reminds me about the upcoming Br!ck Awards. DBC is the featured act, but that is not what impresses Carrabba. “The winners of these awards are true humanitarians. I am astounded that they are being celebrated in a forum like this. It’s almost counterintuitive to what we think of as the American way. You know, ignoring what we think needs fixing … Here we are celebrating the people doing the fixing. It’s exciting that we get to be a part of the honors they are receiving.”
3rd Annual Rock Fore! Dough Concert
Featuring Dashboard Confessional, with Cheap Trick, Corey Smith and John Kolbeck
First Tee, 3165 Damascus Rd.
Tuesday, April 3
5 pm
Admission $35, $25 in advance
rockfordough.com