Dale Tippett Jr.
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Anime
Convention Personality of the Week - January 27, 2008
Dale Tippett Jr. has to be the
guitar god of the Midwest. What others pretend to be when they plug in
their game systems and run Guitar Hero, Tippett does in real life -
blasting away on his guitar on stage, driving his band to new levels of
intensity. This performer, producer and all-around session guy already
had established the Something Beautiful goth-metal group in the
Midwest, but he first came to the attention of anime fans when he was
part of the Chicago-area Swek anime cover band. Those Swek performances
caught the attention of animator Jan Scott Frazier when she decided to
create the "Voices for" series of charity CD's. Frazier had the ideas,
but she also needed the musicians, and Tippett was the go-to guy.
Tippett was working harder than ever before, handling the
behind-the-scenes work needed to turn "Voices for" from a dream into a
reality. When Frazier takes "Voices for" on the road and recruits noted
voice actors to perform the album's songs at conventions, Tippett is in
the middle of the music, leading and pushing the performers to levels
they could never imagine. And somewhere amidst all of these shows and
tunes, Tippett actually picks up a cello and plays that decidedly
non-rock instrument on some of the "Voices for" tracks. Maybe this
guitar god really wants to be Pablo Casals or Yo Yo Ma?
Dale Tippett Jr. has to be the
guitar god of the Midwest. What others pretend to be when they plug in
their game systems and run Guitar Hero, Tippett does in real life -
blasting away on his guitar on stage, driving his band to new levels of
intensity. This performer, producer and all-around session guy already
had established the Something Beautiful goth-metal group in the
Midwest, but he first came to the attention of anime fans when he was
part of the Chicago-area Swek anime cover band. Those Swek performances
caught the attention of animator Jan Scott Frazier when she decided to
create the "Voices for" series of charity CD's. Frazier had the ideas,
but she also needed the musicians, and Tippett was the go-to guy.
Tippett was working harder than ever before, handling the
behind-the-scenes work needed to turn "Voices for" from a dream into a
reality. When Frazier takes "Voices for" on the road and recruits noted
voice actors to perform the album's songs at conventions, Tippett is in
the middle of the music, leading and pushing the performers to levels
they could never imagine. And somewhere amidst all of these shows and
tunes, Tippett actually picks up a cello and plays that decidedly
non-rock instrument on some of the "Voices for" tracks. Maybe this
guitar god really wants to be Pablo Casals or Yo Yo Ma?