Before COVID-19 came around, I was on tour with a band called The Town Pants. The Town Pants are my band, my best friends, my extended family. Just a humble Celtic folk-rock band from Vancouver, BC I joined back in 2016. Since my arrival, I’ve had the privilege to record on the band’s latest album and tour places like Ireland, Hawaii, Vancouver, and over 100 music festivals in roughly 25 states in the US and Canada. At the beginning of an 8 gig performance month during Saint Patrick’s weekend, word had gotten out that venues were now only allowing half capacity. This raised concern for my immediate future making a living with The Town Pants.
Covid-19 has affected my life and career in more ways than one. Since the age of 10, all I have ever really cared about was music. No matter what band I am in or for whom my audience is. Besides my two daughters, my closest family and loved ones, nothing else really matters. I’ve gotta play. Now that Covid-19 is here I am forced to create outside the box. I no longer have my income, my routine, my vital creative output. However, I am no longer restrained to the typical role a drummer plays.
In my journey to find another way to remain creatively productive, I have decided to compose my own album for the very first time. As many musicians may have heard, not many drummers are capable of leading compositions on their own, let alone write a “solo album”. But what else am I going to do? I have a half Canadian, half American band that won’t be touring again until the US permits Canadian work visas. Not to mention, air travel is just plain ridiculous these days. So as I sit at home with my five drum sets, I ponder the next composition for my yet to be released solo work. I never would have chosen this direction for my career, but not much choice is left. I am venturing into the great unknown “co-void” with pencil and paper in hand and a desire deeper than ever before to continue my journey.
My concerns for my future are pretty clear and simple. I need to open myself up even more creatively and I need to tour with The Town Pants again. Other than being a father, my greatest achievement in life rests upon a stage. As I witness the tribulations of many of my colleagues and of the music business itself, I am concerned that once a possible vaccine hits the streets, the scene will be beaten beyond belief. There has to be a major restructuring of the music scene as we once knew it. My hope is that we still have the chance to save our musical infrastructure. Although I remain painfully optimistic that LIVE MUSIC WILL RETURN, it’s a long way back for all of us.
Jeff Tripoli
Syracuse, NY