Now that Dance Gavin Dance has parted ways with singer Tilian Pearson, it marks the end of the ‘3rd era’ of DGD vocalists. Familiarizing yourself with the members of the widely featured Jam of Today favourites isn’t all too difficult, given that unclean vocalist Jon Mess, drummer Matt Mingus, and lead guitarist Will Swan have been present since the beginning. The job of being a clean vocalist in this band has seen some interesting applicants, however. Jonny Craig, for example, who lead the pack from the periods 2005-2007 and 2010-2012, briefly but definitely not insignificantly replaced by the influential Kurt Travis, only for Tilian Pearson to take over from 2012 until 2024.

Kurt Travis made his mark with songs such as ‘Uneasy Hearts Weigh The Most’ (‘Dance Gavin Dance’, 2008) and ‘Tree Village’ (‘Happiness’, 2009). Jonny Craig – who later went on to have success with Slaves (US band) – is known for his vocals on ‘Downtown Battle Mountain’ (2007) and ‘Downtown Battle Mountain II’ (2011). Tilian Pearson is known for, well, pretty much all big hits. All three singers continued being successful (and, in Jonny Craig’s case, controversial) in several other bands in the scene both during and after their time in Dance Gavin Dance.

Now, I’ve featured many, many Dance Gavin Dance songs with vocals by Tilian Pearson on this blog. The first ever DGD JoT was ‘Tree Village’ on May 14th 2020, featuring Kurt Travis. The only vocalist I haven’t featured yet is Jonny Craig. Taken off of Dance Gavin Dance’s debut ‘Downtown Battle Mountain’, here’s ‘Lemon Meringue Tie’ which, if you are only familiar with recent Dance Gavin Dance material, might be a little bit different than what you’re used to.