A Message from Taylor:
What’s up everybody, Taylor here with an exciting announcement. “Swim” the first single from our debut studio LP “Tripp and the New Dinosaurs” will be available on all streaming platforms this Friday, June 16th.
This project has seen the band through quite a few seasons. Though the current sound is made up of a collaborative effort by all three songwriters, this album covers a chunk of the core Tand material I wrote, plus an original song that was written by Tripp Gray.
Tripp was my bandmate and close friend in my first project in Florida, Sawgrass Express. An excellent guitarist, singer, and songwriter with a skillset, depth and soul far beyond what his numeric age implied. I owe much of my musical and compositional understanding to him and the time we spent creating together. Sadly, Tripp left this realm far too soon in 2017. Today would have been his 32nd birthday.
As you read above, the album was named in honor of Tripp (aptly by Mike Garulli). It is special to us for many reasons. His song “Welcome Home” that is featured was a song that he wrote towards the end of the SGE era for a friend that had passed. It felt like he had reached a new level of songwriting around that time, proudly showcasing that big heart on his sleeve.
In addition to Welcome Home, he played on three other songs of mine that are featured and he will be getting writing credits on one for the melody. Tripp even seemed to make a guest appearance from the great beyond on more than one occasion. In one guitar solo, my delay lined up perfectly to make an unintended harmony on one of the last phrases, plus there were 2 guitar parts added in the final days of mixing – one I was completely convinced was already buried somewhere in the mix!
Unfortunately, Tripp didn’t get the opportunity to record his music during his time on this planet. We hope this project helps to preserve Tripp’s music and memory and lifts your spirits when you need it most.
