Artist Spotlight: Dale Tippett Jr.

02 Apr Artist Spotlight: Dale Tippett Jr.

Exclusive interview with Dale Tippett Jr.

“It’s shaping up to be an extremely exciting year,” Dale says when asked about his plans for his solo project, Dale Tippett Jr featuring Tin Lolita. “We’re on track to have a new song released every month this year, an EP for the summer and a full-length release in the fall.” Dale’s music is best described as “sultry blues rock, peppered with a little jazz influence.” Dale and Tin Lolita (Ezra Lange, bass, and Auggie Jaramillo, drums,) will be making appearances at several festivals and neighborhood events in Chicago this year.

Putting out a new song every month seems like it would be challenging.  How has the experience been so far?

Honestly, not that bad. I laid out a large-scale plan, but there’s still room for improvising. In January, for example, I released a video and free mp3 download of “We Shall Overcome” with my friend Eric McGhee. I knew the plan, and that the song would happen – but I didn’t know exactly what the execution would look like until the day of the session. Eric didn’t even know exactly what was going on until I was setting up the camera! The music and video for the February release, Lonely for You, had been done for a couple years already, so I didn’t sweat much over that.

If ‘Lonely for You’ has been done for so long, why the delayed release?

It had all started out as a joke, really. I played a prank on a guy who had parked across my driveway and I shot video of it. After editing it, I had five minutes and no music, so I went through my demo collection to see if anything was the fight length for the video. This song Lonely for You was pretty much exactly the length that I needed, so I threw it in. The video has been live for a couple years and it’s been watched more than 90,000 times, and a lot of people leave comments. Lots of people were asking for the song that’s playing in the background – so I finally released it. It’s on iTunes, Amazon, and just about anywhere you get digital music now.

So, can you give us a sneak peek of what you’re working on for March?

I just recorded a pop-punk version of ‘Oh Danny Boy’ with Rich Aszling from 5 minus X. It was a fun session.  It should be out before St Patrick’s Day.

Fun! You’re using a lot of people in these recording projects. Would you say your background as a church musician has helped you prepare for these types of projects?

I would say ‘definitely,’ but the small things don’t always get planned-as-such. I’m the primary music director at Irving Park Baptist Church here in Chicago. I also direct in Libertyville and Wauconda, so lots of locations and personnel changes happen around me pretty frequently. Just as with anything, there are so many details in music production that it can paralyze me. The thing that I think makes it all a little less daunting is remembering that I’m always surrounded by talented, creative people – and when I have an idea, even in the spur of the moment, I always know exactly who to call to make something amazing happen.

You are a busy guy! Do you see yourself as being different people at different times?

Don’t we all?

Dale is a Chicago native, new father, and veteran of many styles of music. He also serves as the Music Director for Irving Park Baptist, Holy Cross Lutheran, and Messiah Lutheran Church.

You can catch Dale & Tin Lolita March 28th in Forrest Park at Chalk, in June at Six Corners BBQ Fest as a featured NAC artist, July at Ronan Park for North River Commission’s Summer Concert Series, and in August at Norwood Park’s National Night Out Against Crime.

To stay connected with Dale, check out his website, follow him on Twitter, and “Like” him on Facebook..