TRIPI Builds a Community Around Grief with “Life Without You”

The story of TRIPI’s forthcoming album Close to Fire began with one family’s loss, but it has continued to grow through the participation of other families, musicians, and caregivers. The latest single, a cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Life Without You,” captures that expansion in a particularly direct way.

Tony Tripi created the album after his grandson Roman died one day after his birth. The project became a way to approach grief through rock and soul music, while also opening conversations with people who had experienced infant loss and other forms of bereavement. “Life Without You” brings another personal history into that framework through its lead singer, Jack Daley.

Daley, a bassist and producer whose credits include Lenny Kravitz, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, and the Spin Doctors, had recently lost his brother Frank when he recorded the vocal. The track had initially been sung by Tripi, but Tripi felt unable to connect with the song in the studio. Daley later returned alone and recorded a new lead.

Photo credit: Shervin Lainez

The finished version does not disguise the circumstances behind it. Daley’s voice carries fatigue and affection, sounding closer to a private address than a formal tribute. His interpretation is especially effective because it allows the song to remain plainspoken.

The musicians around him take a similar approach. Aaron Comess, Rob Clores, Andrew Carillo, and Daley recorded the foundation live at Dug Deep Production, with Marc Ribler adding the guitar solo afterward. The band keeps the performance spacious, resisting the temptation to turn the song into a large-scale blues-rock showcase.

That sense of restraint fits Tripi’s larger purpose. Close to Fire is intended to create room for remembrance, conversation, and mutual support. The project includes nearly two dozen musicians, many with connections to the Asbury Park scene, and its collaborative character reflects Tripi’s belief that music can bring people into the same room when ordinary language feels insufficient.

That belief will be put into practice on October 30 at The Cutting Room, where TRIPI plans to present a full-album benefit concert during International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. “Life Without You” offers an early model for the evening: one person’s loss meeting another’s through a song that has already carried grief across generations.