Travis Dillard - Out of the Ashes CD Release

TWO YEARS AFTER TRAGEDY LOCAL FAMILY RELEASES SON’S DREAM

Brother Colin Dillard sings one of Travis Dillard’s songs during his CD release party for “Out of the Ashes.”

MUSTANG NEWS
Edition:Friday, July 10, 2009

Tears shone in the eyes of family and friends as Colin Dillard belted out songs his older brother Travis wrote but never had the chance to record.
The Dillard family and their friends gathered last week for a private concert to celebrate the release of “Out of the Ashes,” a CD containing Travis Dillard's music and studio recordings.
Travis Dillard and his sister Shannon Dillard Wilson were injured July 7, 2007, in a fireworks accident while working for Western Enterprises at Piedmont's Independence Day Freedom Celebration. Wilson died July 22, and her brother died Aug. 8.
Louann Dillard said she and her husband Jay Dillard dreamed of producing Travis' music and creating a recording in his memory. Then her husband died that October in a traffic accident in northwest Oklahoma City.
“We talked about how much Travis had worked to get his CD going and how much music he had written and nobody knew about it,” she said.
She asked Steve and Stephanie Short for help to produce the music, since they were Travis' close friends. It became known as The Dillard Project, short for The Dillard Project in Memorial to Shannon Wilson and Travis and Jay Dillard.
They set to work planning the CD and started recording almost a year ago, Stephanie Short said. In three songs, they were able to take recordings of Travis singing and blend it with musical accompaniment. On the other tracks, Colin Dillard sang his brother's music, and Louann Dillard and Short sang background vocals.
“We bled into this project,” she said. “It's something we felt strongly about from the very beginning.”
Bill Dillard said the music captures his nephew's spirit and his love for music.
“That was his goal, his dream, his passion,” he said. “For us to hear his voice, to hear his music, the music plays on, so we get to keep a little bit of Travis. It's bittersweet.”
Some of her friend's songs are about his strong faith, Short said, while others are about lost live and times of struggle and victory.
“They all come from his heart,” she said.
All of the proceeds from CD sales will benefit the Paul Silverstein Burn Center at Integris Baptist Hospital where Shannon Wilson and Travis Dillard received care. Louann Dillard said she hopes the money will allow the burn center to open new rooms to help others.
In the month the Dillard family held their vigil at the burn center, Bill Dillard said the doctors and nurses cared not only for Shannon and Travis, but for all of them.
“Louann and Colin want the proceeds for the CD to go to help other families,” he said.
The recording is available for purchase through Tate Publishing, 127 E. Trade Center Terrace, Mustang, OK, 73064 and on the com-pany's Web site at www.tatepublishing. com.
Family friends Andrea and Matt Jett designed the CD cover, which shows a rose growing out of the Piedmont field where the fireworks accident occurred. Travis Dillard drew a similar rose on a Mother's Day card and planned to use it on his CD cover.
On the back cover, the rose is placed on a piano at the Oklahoma Heritage Museum. While working there installing glass during the building's renovation, Travis couldn't resist playing the piano.