ST. LOUIS — After four years of work on his debut album — and nearly abandoning the whole thing — Dylan Triplett can finally add recording artist to his resume.
“Who Is He?,” featuring the single “Junkyard Dog,” was released Friday. The album aims to answer the question posed by its title, introducing the dynamic 21-year-old blues/R&B singer.
“By the time you’re done with the album, you will know who I am,” says Triplett, who previously had performed as Little Dylan.
“I’ve never shown ‘me’ in true form,” he says. “This is me showing who I am and celebrating myself and allowing everyone to celebrate with me. I don’t have to say anything. I let the album speak for itself.”
The album’s mix of originals and carefully selected covers all speak to Triplett personally.
“At first it was scary,” he says. “I didn’t want people to know everything about me. I didn’t want to show my imperfections.”
But that was before.
“I’m itching for it now — ready for it to happen,” he says. “Full steam ahead. All gas, no brakes.”
Triplett finally became comfortable with opening up and letting people into his life.
“I learned to open my mouth and speak and just be real,” he says. “Music made that easy. I went through each phase of my life through this album. The album will show the tears and the scars, but it will also show me celebrating.”
“Who Is He?” is a mix of blues, soul, R&B and jazz songs produced by Larry Fulcher and co-produced by Wayne Goins. Triplett recorded the album over three days at Blue Lotus Studio in St. Louis. It was his first time working in a recording studio.
On “Junkyard Dog,” Cahokia native Triplett sings about growing up “in the ghetto and seeing crazy-ass relationships where people love each other and treat each other like (crap).”
“Brand New Day … Same Old Blues” expresses his feelings about being used by people — and with moving past his feelings of despair.
“I was going through a lot, but it’s only temporary,” he says. “I was homeless for a long time. I was struggling, falling down, but little did I know I wasn’t falling down at all. I was floating, like a leaf falling off a tree. I’m here because I actually caught myself before I went too deep into my depression and hurt.”
Bill Withers’ classic “Who Is He (And What Is He to You?)” inspired Triplett’s album title. It’s also covered on the album.
“All Blues” is Triplett’s take on a Miles Davis song that spoke to him. It highlights how everything around him is blues.
“We said, ‘Let’s switch up this jazz song to blues,’” he says. “We made it super funky. I started singing it and talking about the ups and downs, the good and the bad. Everything has a song to it — its own tune. It’s up to you to see which tune it is.”
On “Who Is He?,” Triplett also covers Marvin Gaye’s “That’s the Way Love Is.”
Fulcher had brought Triplett a selection of tunes to consider for covers.
“He said, ‘I want you to choose, pick something you wanna do,’” Triplett says. “I didn’t know what I was doing when I got in the studio. I just went in the studio with lyrics in hand.”
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, a friend of Triplett’s, plays guitar on “Barnyard Blues” and “Feels Good Doin’ Bad.”
Montez Coleman, the prominent East St. Louis drummer who died in January, is featured throughout “Who Is He?” Triplett had known Coleman all his life. Coleman and Triplett’s stepfather, Art Pollard (who used to play saxophone in Triplett’s band), went to school together.
Earlier this year, Triplett quietly relocated to Nashville, Tennessee. For him, it was time.
“I had been caught up in a lot of situations that weren’t for me — being at the wrong place at the wrong time, experiencing homelessness,” he says. “It was rough. Life has thrown me curveballs.”
Coleman, who moved to New York City in order to push his career to the next level, also advised Triplett to move.
“He said, ‘Don’t live out your entire life here (in St. Louis) — don’t be stuck.' He said there was so much more for me out there. I got the first train out.”
Triplett says his time so far in Nashville has been great. He has grown on the business side, helped curate festivals, continues to perform and is traveling more than ever.
“I’m making all the moves possible,” he says. “And I haven’t been sitting still.”
He says he will always credit St. Louis for getting him there.
“St. Louis made me a shark — a musical shark,” Triplett says. “I learned every bit of my business in St. Louis, as well as showmanship and knowing how to perform — and how to be free.”
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