Dave Harrington Leaves Taper’s Choice
Dave Harrington has announced his departure from Taper’s Choice. Since their formation, Harrington has been an essential element in the “subversive jamband” supergroup’s alchemical synthesis, serving as both the group’s guitarist and in-house producer. In a shared announcement post, he expressed gratitude for his bandmates and hope for future crossings.
“For personal reasons, I am stepping away from touring with the band,” Harrington wrote, “but I have and will always love the music of Taper’s Choice and my friends Chris, Alex and Zach, the wizards who make it. I hope to continue to be a part of the larger TC universe as we all move forward. Sometimes, man… catch you later on down the trail.”
Harrington’s bandmates in Taper’s Choice detailed the split and the band’s future in the same post:
“Ok friends, no particularly easy or clever way of saying this: Dave is leaving The Choice! Somewhere in the individualistic vagaries of life, home and tour, every musician must find out where the best balance lands for them… and for Dave there just isn’t enough room for the ever expanding choice universe. Legit bummer! But, also, much respect!”
Harrington, independently celebrated for his work in the groundbreaking electro-acoustic project Darkside and his stature in the improvisational music undergrounds of New York and Los Angeles, founded Taper’s Choice with bassist Alex Bleecker (Real Estate), drummer Chris Tomson (Vampire Weekend) and keyboardist Zach Tenorio-Miller (Arc Iris) in 2021. The band did not disclose any full-time substitute for Harrington, but noted that CJ Twyoniak would fill in on the band’s upcoming co-headline tour with Eggy. The Taper’s Choice 1.0 lineup will deliver one final performance at Big Ears Festival on March 26, and the band’s future beyond its present live plans remains to be seen.
Read Dave Harrington and Taper’s Choice’s full statement below.
Taper’s Choice recently wrapped an East Coast tour with two performances aboard Jam Cruise 22, where Harrington sat for a conversation reflecting on the group and his musical identity outside of it. “The diversity of musical interests among the band is my favorite thing about being in this band,” he shared. “I feel like in the Venn diagram of ‘I’m really into this,’ there’s at least two or three people who can latch to that, and then for certain super iconic things, maybe three or four of us, but it’s not like we’re all obsessed with the same music. Everyone’s deepest influences are pretty different, and then there’s a lot of shared commonality.” Read more here.
