Has anyone else noticed the way Tripp Kennedy is constantly jumping from band to band? Her actions are almost nomadic. Let's have an overview, shall we?
Let's start at the beginning, back in the day of her wee age of five, back when her name was still Amber. She and her older sister Alia, nine at the time, sang together in a duet group, officially not named. I'm sure many of you have heard this story many times before - girls-get-spotted-in-park, girls-get-big-overseas, girls-receive-backlash. But apparently this horrible backlash hadn't crushed Kennedy's spirt just quite yet. Five years later, after being in and out of several other musical groups, she teamed up with old friends Tamara and Crystal to form the band TAC (Tamara Amber Crystal). This sparked Kennedy's love for heavy metal, as you can identify in the song "Silver Bells," the only single of their's that received airplay. This poor reaction by the media and record companies discouraged the young girls, and after six months of being together, they split up. Without a happy ending. Each girl, deciding their incompatibilities were too deep to live with, went their separate ways.
Again, this crude break up did not effect Kennedy's hopes and dreams. One year later she formed the band Galaxy Girls, a tribute band to her old favorites, the Spice Girls. Who was her comrade in this tribute, you may be wondering? Why, it was the infamous Ashley Lieb. Yes, the same Ashley who's the estranged third frontwoman of the ex-band Throwing Tampons; the same Ashley so much hype and drama has been centered around lately. Peculiar, no? As you can gather, Kennedy and Lieb go way back. Upon research we've learned that they've known each other since the second grade, before TAC even formed. How did this band blow over? Well, even though their covers of "The Lady Is A Vamp" and "Wannabe" were well produced, they soon lost motivation after being shunned by the media, and the band was lost into oblivion.
For the next four years we hear nothing from Kennedy. Some say she travelled far into the hills of Scotland to condition her voice by practicing the art of Waling with an old friend. Others say she joined a gang and, after being jumped out for narking, she isolated herself from the public in fear of being killed. No one is really sure of what went on during those four years. But something must have inspired her, because in the year 2000 she joined more bands than we can even keep track of. Under the name MeestaSparkle, Kennedy formed the bands Dither, 985LO, and Tits Of America, to name a few, but obviously none lasted for very long. In an ancient interview she was quoted as saying, "I'm very frustrated with the way things are going right now. After 4 years of not being around any real music, it's been difficult to get back into the groove. My bandmates haven't been helping much, either. I'm afraid they aren't as serious about this as I am..." During that year, the band that stood out in the music industry the most was the fivesome Thirty-Four Dirty Whores. Kennedy reunited with Lieb, along with newcomers Tiare Miller, A.C. Black, and Kirsten Niemi. Finally, a real band. With Kennedy, Miller, and Niemi singing, Black on guitar, and Lieb on drums, this band was completely prepared for musical stardom. But unfortunately, the public didn't welcome them with a warm and inviting hug. Out of the 3 years they were together, they managed to get airplay for only 2 out of their many endless songs, "A Poem About A Girl I Hate," and a triphop cover of "I Feel Like Chicken Tonight." Apparently, Kennedy, the official songwriter, was unable to write songs that connected with listeners on any basis at all. The other bandmembers were getting angry and frustrated by this, and soon kicked her out of the band.
Instead of hunting for new people to latch onto, Kennedy settled down for a while and worked on her writing for about a year. She improved greatly, as you can realize when listening to her latest material. But how can someone become such an amazing writer in such a short period of time? This again is a hazy situation. After speaking briefly with Kennedy, and several trusted sources, we've gathered that the legendary Willy Nelson paid Kennedy a visit that year. "I was just sitting on my porch, really mad at my pen and paper, and angry at my mind for not being able to come up with any good shit... Then all of a sudden this guy walks out of my woods and approaches. And it was fucking Willy Nelson. I was like, 'Shiiet, yo.' And he gave me this notebook. He said to me, 'I believe this will help you.' Then he started to walked off. But I stopped him and asked him how he got here. Then he said the strangest thing - 'I was sent by Forilla.' Then he disappeared. Everyone says I hallucinated, and they were like, 'What the fuck is Forilla?' It's like he could see into the future. I still have the notebook locked up somewhere in my room. Whenever I need inspiration I take it out. It's like magic. True magic." One month later she once again joined up with Lieb, and friends Becky Johnson and Jessica Brockmann to create the legend known as Throwing Tampons. An argument between Kennedy and Lieb immediately broke up the band within a week. But Kennedy wasn't going to let her new found writing talent go to waste. Six months later, through the help of Brockmann, she discovered Forilla, an underground hiphop community. The men on top, CBreeze and 8k must have inspired the two girls greatly, for soon enough they were up on their feet again. Things were different this time, though. Lieb was completely out of the picture, and Johnson became the girls' manager. After a few days of searching for musicians, they found Matt Matson, and Tanar Stalker, who later hooked up to form a controversial homosexual relationship. To grab the attention of the media, they all, with the exception of Stalker, changed their names. Kennedy became Tripp, Brockmann transformed into Jasy-J (or just Jas), and Matson was now known as PinkPanther (or PinkieP for short). Johnson changed her name as well. She now often goes by the alias YodelinPenguin.
Within a week of reuniting, their first song was written and recorded. But, unfortunately, this amazing debut song was never released. After pushing back the release date several times, the band decided not to share the song with the public at all, or so it seems. Upon visiting their website, www.throwingtampons.com, we found the following message: "Throwing Tampons' debut album Here Fishy Fishy available in stores no where February 7th." This struck us as peculiar. The break up was said to have happened on February 8th. Perhaps this was all a huge publicity stunt? Did they ever really intend to release their debut song, "Buffalo/Cow/Horse/Zebra"? We can't be sure, but there have been several rumors claiming the band, who reportedly broke up because of another childish argument, will reunite once again. When asked about this, Kennedy simply said, "No comment." But she did inform us about a band she may be starting with the media fox BoomMastaRay, an old friend of her's. They plan on being "10 times more hip hop, 123 times more hardcore."
Her musical journey hasn't stopped yet.
-- Lee Fairview, Independent News