TRIPI Announces Close to Fire, a Rock and Soul Album Built Around Grief, Memory, and Shared Witness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nDDpTFSrJc

Tony Tripi’s new album as TRIPI, Close to Fire: Roman’s Anthology Release Part I, begins from a place of profound personal loss. His grandson Roman died one day after his birth, and the album that followed is shaped by that grief. But the project does not appear to stay locked inside one family’s story. Its lead single, “Charlie’s Song,” makes clear that Tripi is writing about remembrance as something communal.

“Charlie’s Song” is out now, and it introduces the album through the story of a child who was almost three. The song is plainspoken in a way that feels intentional. It does not hide behind metaphor for long. It names the parents, the funeral card, the impossibility of the loss, and the desire to keep Charlie present by continuing to say his name.

Tripi has said the song was inspired by a conversation between his daughter and their friend Liz while staying at Saleh Carefarm. That origin matters because the song feels less like a fictional narrative than a response to something witnessed. It carries the feeling of someone listening closely, then trying to honor what was shared with him.

The single’s most affecting moments are often its smallest. Charlie is remembered through a little drum, a smile, dinosaurs, donkeys, a tangerine peel, and a Beatles song. Those details give the song a lived quality. They also protect it from becoming generic. Grief is overwhelming, but memory tends to arrive through fragments. “Charlie’s Song” understands that.

Close to Fire was recorded primarily at Dug Deep Production, with additional sessions at three other studios, and features a sizable group of musicians. The album includes contributions from Jack Daley, Johnny Gale, Ken Wallace, James Maddock, Emily Grove, Aaron Comess, Rob Clores, Marc Ribler, Jesse Wagner, Tommy Byrnes, Mike DelGuidice, and others. That guest list points toward an album rooted in collaboration, particularly with musicians tied to the Asbury Park area.

Photo credit: Shervin Lainez

Tripi’s own biography gives the project an unusual shape. He survived a near-fatal fire at age three, moved through a childhood split across regions and circumstances, joined the Coast Guard as a teenager, worked in the trades, built a financial career, and found life in recovery. Those experiences give Close to Fire a wider set of concerns: grief, family, faith, service, money, legacy, addiction, and the question of how people keep going after life changes them.

Close to Fire: Roman’s Anthology Release Part I will be released October 23rd, 2026. That same day, TRIPI will headline Close to Fire: A Grief Support Benefit Concert in the Asbury Park area, with nearly 20 contributing musicians expected to take part in a full-album performance. “Charlie’s Song” is available now on streaming platforms, and the album is available for pre-save and pre-order.