Travis Tritt mixed the rowdiness of Southern rock with the traditional honky-tonk laments and came up with a sound that rocked the country music world beginning with his first release, “Country Club,” in 1989.
“I’m a firm believer that there’s only two kinds of music – good and bad,” Travis says. “I like to describe my music as a triangle. On one side is a folk influence from people like James Taylor, Larry Gatlin, and John Denver. On the second side are George Jones and Merle Haggard—that type of music. And then on the third side are the Allman Brothers and the Marshall Tucker Band. They’re all balanced together, all part of what I do.”
Travis began his musical career as a soloist in a Marietta, Georgia, church’s children’s choir. He taught himself guitar at age 8 and wrote his first song at age 14. He worked on the Atlanta club circuit for many years before coming to Nashville.
A local Warner Bros. Records representative helped him produce demo tapes that led to the label signing him in 1988. His album Country Club yielded three Top 5 singles: “Help Me Hold On,” “I’m Gonna Be Somebody,” and “Drift Off to Dream.” Billboard magazine named him the top new male artist of 1990.
In recognition of his spectacular rise, the Country Music Association gave Travis its Horizon Award in 1991, and the following year he was invited to join the cast of the Grand Ole Opry. As he recalls, membership was a bit of a surprise: “All my life I’ve dreamed about this. At one point I didn’t know if I would ever be invited to be on the Opry because I have a side that’s a little more contemporary. But I’m a country artist. I’ve always been and it’s a privilege to be here.”
Earning another CMA Award in 1992 and a Grammy in 1993 for “The Whiskey Ain’t Working,” his duet with fellow Opry member Marty Stuart, Travis was a near-constant presence on the country charts for the next five years with songs like “Can I Trust You With My Heart,” “Foolish Pride,” “Sometimes She Forgets,” and “Where Corn Don’t Grow.”
After a fallow period in the late 1990s, he came roaring back to the top of the charts after the turn of the century with rootsier, frequently thoughtful songs like “It’s a Great Day To Be Alive,” “Modern Day Bonnie & Clyde” and “Strong Enough to Be Your Man.”
Displaying another side of his musical personality, he appeared on 2000’s Big Mon tribute to Bill Monroe—not only singing, but playing the banjo, too, as he did in 2004, when he was a featured guest in the Earl Scruggs’ Artist in Residence concert series at the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum.
Tritt's most recent project, The Storm, which Tritt co-produced with American Idol judge, Randy Jackson, was released on Category 5 Records in 2007.
Today, Travis Tritt is known not only as a country-rockin’ innovator, but as an artist who respects country-music tradition.
Latest CD
The Very Best of Travis Tritt