I received news on the morning of November 4th that a new friend of mine, Kipp Crawford was killed in the night. I won’t claim to have the longest history with him but the relationship I did have was musical and therefore amazing. Kipp was the drummer for Redwood Son, a band I’ve worked with an enormous amount over the last year, and he was a genuine individual. I appreciate the smile he beamed and the carefree zest he wore on his sleeve.
The details (as I know them) are freak and tragic and obsolete in the scheme of things — some sort of altercation left him laying in the road. As twisted fate would have it, it was at the same moment that two intoxicated drivers rounded the corner and ended him. Kipp was taken to the hospital and died shortly after.
He was a talented drummer and a bright light of a man and my final memory of him is exactly how I’ll remember him always…
We played a show at the Aladdin Theater together and I was sitting backstage as he drummed for the band before me. I’ll always remember him looking over at me during the middle of a song; beaming grin and staring me in the eyes like a true madman as he did a power drum fill. We absolutely shared that moment of bright lights and music. I giggled to myself and muttered crazy bastard in the most endearing of ways. Maybe he was — but he was Kipp — and he’ll be missed.
As a tribute to Kipp and another Portland musician Scotland Barr, I wrote this song called Daffodils. I hate to admit it, but I got the first line wrong about Scotland; it should be September rather than December. It will be included on my upcoming EP with the corrected lyrics. Enjoy.
Here are some links to articles about the accident:
Portland Mercury
OPB Music
Portland Tribune
Ashland Daily Tidings
*** “The Drums Are For Your Heart” is a line from a Michael Torrey song.