|
TRAVIS RUSH IS A TRUE NORTHERN BOY GONE COUNTRY!
(By: Lauren Pinney and Bessie Sorge)
If anyone ever says that country music comes from the south they haven’t met Travis Rush yet. Travis, a native of Gold Beach, Oregon, has marked his talent in the country music world and proved that you don't have to live in the south to be a great country singer. As a teenager his interest in country music was initiated by his father who listened to singers like; Kenney Rogers and Dolly Parton. Although his father introduced him to country through these artists, being a teenager, Travis found that he was partial to the adult contemporary side of country. As he got older, the music became more than just something to listen to, instead Travis listened to the stories that country music told and was able to identify with them because he experienced the stories in his own life. This opened the door to a whole new appreciation and interest for country music in his life.
As a child he was taught to play the piano, but the worst part of that experience was that he was forced to play material he didn’t particularly care for. "The piano teachers want you to play all the stuff you don't want to,” he explained. “I sat there and said I want to play that stuff on that's on the radio, and of course, the teacher wouldn't teach it to me." Driven and motivated by his passion for music, Travis decided it was time to teach himself how to play the material he liked and use all of the inspiration he got from listening to his favorite country singers to create his own unique style.
At the age of nineteen Travis toured with the band Up With People, traveling to 40 different states in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and northern Europe. Through his time with the band, Travis performed over two hundred concerts and was able to experience the thrills and heat being on stage. Needless to say, he craved more. Being a part of the band had forced Travis to learn all the ropes of putting together an entire production he assisted with setting up the lighting and sound, as well as several promotional aspects. Travis took all of the experience he gained from the Up With People tours and has become an educated country singer who understands and appreciates all that the music industry has to offer.
Travis has come a long way from being just a country music lover living in Oregon, to a talented Country Singer. Myspace gave Travis the opportunity to connect with his fans by allowing them to vote on their favorite songs on the album and to pick his first single. As a result, his debut album has been slated for release on March 16, 2010, with the first single being sent for radio adds in January. Check out excerpts from our interview with Travis Rush below and find out what he is doing in his career now.
Do you write your own music?
On my last album I wrote 11 of the 12 songs, or co-wrote some of them. This time, however, I haven’t written any of them. This new album is from all different writers from Nashville; they are not all from Nashville, most of them are. We went into this album thinking that we just wanted the best music, and I had to put my own ego aside and say, “You know what, these guys wrote better than I am going to write for this album, so I’m going to use their stuff.” There are so many great writers in Nashville.
What do you look for in a song makes you say, “I want this song on my album?” What stands out for you?
First of all, as country music is so heavily involved in stories, every song that I sing I have to have either experienced it or known someone very close to me that has been through it or else I won’t do the song. I’m not a big party guy so the tailgate party kind of songs don’t really work for me. We work through the stories of the songs and styles of the music to try to find things that I can relate to. It might sound a little corny, but every time I sing a song, whether it’s in the studio or on stage, I always literally put myself emotionally back in that place in my life before I start singing so that the emotion can come through, especially on ballads.
What is the first single that you plan to release from the album?
What we have done is set up this thing on my website and we’re allowing the fans to help us pick the single. It’s been a really, really cool experience for me and I think for them. They’ve been having a great time. We have put five songs up there and given them the opportunity to go in and listen to the song, rate it from one to five stars and then they make a comment about it. Once they get through those five, then I come on and say, “hey thanks, now let me know which one you think we should release at the first single.” The comments are just hilarious through this whole process. I get all kinds of great feedback and criticisms. They’re very honest, which is great. After these five, we’re going to put the second five up there and then let them go through that. When we’re done with that, then we’ll know. It’s funny because the single that they’ve been choosing is not the song that we were going to release. They have completely changed the plan.
As a recording artist you have so many things you do, you have to write the music or pick the music, record it, lay out the tracks, get the album all finalized and then you go out and tour and meet the fans. What is your favorite part of the whole entire process?
You know, my manager is constantly concerned because I enjoy the fan part of it so much. I’m always trying to get involved when we do a concert. There will be a signing of autographs after the show, and he’s saying we got to go and I’m saying no, not until this line is gone. I want to meet everybody and talk to them. As a kid, when I went to concerts, that was the part that I wanted. I wanted to meet them and talk to them and get to know them on a personal level. Back to the social networking, that’s also helping with that. I’m trying to find all these ways to involve the fans in everything that’s going on, like this reviewing the music and when the music video comes out, we’re going to come back to them and say “hey, can I get your feedback on this” and involve them as much as I can.
Are there any last comments to your fans?
Thank you. I know a lot of people say this, but it’s the reality of it, if they weren’t helping by coming to these events, asking the radio and buying our music, we wouldn’t be able to do this.
To find out more about Travis Rush be sure to stop by his official website and Myspace pages.
|
Interviews 
