tag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:/blogs/latest-news?p=3latest news2020-09-28T09:06:26-05:00Travis Meadowsfalsetag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/65718892021-03-12T09:55:32-06:002023-12-10T13:50:17-06:0010th Anniversary Reissue: Killin' Uncle Buzzy - Pre-order with Earache Records!<p>OUT 30 APRIL</p>
<p><a contents="PRE-ORDER HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://earache.com/travismeadows" target="_blank">PRE-ORDER HERE</a></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/40061/5768456cc4b0ce4c50729700466af55a60bb6a17/original/mosh644-socialheadersfacebook.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_left border_" /></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/64443852020-09-28T09:06:26-05:002022-02-23T04:39:51-06:00New Patreon page launches in October!<p>Available for subscription October 1, my fans will be able to become a patron and get exclusive access to new content...</p>
<p><a contents="BECOME A PATRON" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.patreon.com/travismeadows" target="_blank">BECOME A PATRON</a></p>
<p>We will be reorganizing the different subscription tiers here on Patreon and launching some new benefits on October 1st, 2020. In this move to a monthly subscription, you can feel free to explore the different ways I can share my music and life. Of course, we will maintain the sharing of song recordings, but also the addition of some video content, blog-type content, live streams, and a special mentorship program.</p>
<p>Currently, the tier page shows "per creation" but that will be switched over to "per month" on the morning of Oct 1, so please be sure you are in your appropriate tier before you are billed. Once the campaign launches, we can work to get mentorships scheduled and keep content flowing consistently every week.</p>
<p>Please share any different types of content you would like to see in the coming months and share this page with your friends, as this will become the largest source of content/music moving forward. Thanks so much, Travlers - and I'll see you very soon!</p>
<p>- Travis</p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/62510332020-03-16T11:39:05-05:002023-12-10T11:32:05-06:00WATCH: Travis shares a new song "Hope"<p>Watch as Travis shares a new song with a special puppet friend. Just in time for a world that needs a little hope.<br>"Hope" written by Travis Meadows & Tom Douglas</p>
<p><a contents="[WATCH HERE]" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8pCbBtn30I" target="_blank">[WATCH HERE]</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/58222672019-07-12T10:04:39-05:002022-03-11T23:00:38-06:00LISTEN: Recovery Live Podcast with Liz Stanislawski<p>I spoke with Liz Stanislawski for her podcast on addiction, recovery and moving forward with Cumberland Heights...<br><a contents="[LISTEN HERE]" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.cumberlandheights.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Cumberland-Heights-Recovery-Live-Podcast-with-Travis-M.mp3" target="_blank">[LISTEN HERE]</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/53724672018-08-02T15:20:07-05:002018-08-02T15:20:27-05:00New Music Video for "Underdogs" WATCH HERE<p>"Underdogs" by Travis Meadows <br>Written by Travis Meadows & Cactus Moser <br>Listen on the new album "First Cigarette" released by Blaster Records </p>
<p>Directed by Steve Condon for The 10:10 Creative <br>Executive Producer: Derek Simon </p>
<p>Premiered on The Dan Patrick Show - 8.2.18</p>
<p><a contents="[WATCH THE VIDEO HERE]" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/z1EqUZViZ2w" target="_blank">[WATCH THE VIDEO HERE]</a></p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="z1EqUZViZ2w" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/z1EqUZViZ2w/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z1EqUZViZ2w?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/53712982018-08-01T18:47:05-05:002020-02-01T19:15:57-06:00Travis Meadows In-Studio Performance with Paste Magazine - Live Stream<p>Past Magazine<br>In-Studio Performance + Interview</p>
<p>Thursday, 3:30 PM CT</p>
<p><a contents="WATCH the LIVE STREAM on Facebook!" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/PasteMusicAndDaytrotter/" target="_blank">[WATCH the LIVE STREAM on Facebook!]</a></p>
<p><a contents="[WATCH the LIVE STREAM on Youtube!]" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/Yy4zza_I1NY" target="_blank">WATCH the LIVE STREAM on Youtube!</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/53712912018-08-01T18:42:35-05:002020-12-04T02:00:03-06:00Travis Meadows In-Studio on The Dan Patrick Show - Tune in 8.2 @ 9 AM CT<p>The Dan Patrick Show<br>New York, NY</p>
<p>Thursday, 8.2 - after 9:00 AM CT</p>
<p><a contents="[LISTEN live&nbsp;at danpatrick.com]" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://wwwdanpatrick.com" target="_blank">[LISTEN live at danpatrick.com]</a> or on the radio or your TV!</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/40061/aa1a44328b0ce506ba75fee561909e71f4ad4dfc/original/38054431-2353169808042792-5550461690606256128-o.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_" /></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/53450412018-07-13T13:39:58-05:002023-12-10T13:25:43-06:00Kenny Chesney Releases "Better Boat" Before Upcoming 2018 Album<p>Hear Kenny Chesney’s Reflective New Song ‘Better Boat’ via Rolling Stone</p>
<p>Chesney’s recording of Travis Meadows and Liz Rose tune from ‘Songs for the Saints’ features Mindy Smith </p>
<p>By CHRIS PARTON </p>
<p>Kenny Chesney is joined by singer-songwriter Mindy Smith on the new song "Better Boat." </p>
<p>Kenny Chesney offers up a big-picture ballad about learning to overcome what gets you down in the new song “Better Boat,” the third track revealed from his upcoming Songs for the Saints album. </p>
<p>Written by Travis Meadows and Liz Rose and featuring background vocals from “Come to Jesus” singer Mindy Smith, the quiet tune also rings with gut-string guitar lines courtesy of perennial CMA Musician of the Year Mac McAnally. It’s all about finding positivity and inner strength in the face of adversity, and Chesney says the song’s philosophical theme perfectly captures the emotion of the months following Hurricane Irma, which devastated the U.S. and British Virgin Islands last fall. </p>
<p>“Now and then I let it go / I ride the waves I can’t control / I’m learning how to build a better boat,” he sings in the song’s chorus. </p>
<p>Chesney is back on the road this summer, taking his 2018 Trip Around the Sun Tour through stadiums and amphitheaters with the help of Thomas Rhett, Old Dominion and Brandon Lay. Songs for the Saints is scheduled for release on July 27th, and Chesney plans to donate all proceeds from album to his Love for Love City Foundation, which funds rebuilding projects across the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.</p>
<p><a contents='[LISTEN to "Better Boat"&nbsp;and READ the full article]' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/hear-kenny-chesneys-reflective-new-song-better-boat-699049/" target="_blank">[LISTEN to "Better Boat" and READ the full article]</a></p>
<p><a contents='[WATCH Kenny perform "Better Boat" on Good Morning America]' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://media.abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/video/kenny-chesney-rocks-boat-live-gma-56935327" target="_blank">[WATCH Kenny perform "Better Boat" on Good Morning America]</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/51521612018-03-20T10:55:00-05:002021-01-25T04:49:01-06:00Watch & Listen: "Riser" [Live Acoustic Performance]<p>"Riser" by Travis Meadows (Feat. Whiskey Jack Untz)<br>Written by Travis Meadows & Steve Moakler<br>Recorded by Dierks Bentley<br>Recorded November 2017 at American Legion Post 82, East Nashville, TN<br>Directed by Steve Condon for The 10:10 Creative<br>Executive Producer: Derek Simon</p>
<p><a contents="[WATCH FULL VIDEO HERE]" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-1Cuo8omsA" target="_blank">[WATCH FULL VIDEO HERE]</a></p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="I-1Cuo8omsA" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/I-1Cuo8omsA/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I-1Cuo8omsA?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/51214932018-03-10T10:09:43-06:002023-12-10T12:50:13-06:00A Letter From Chuck<p>The very first time I listened to a U2 record was at Chuck's house. He’s the one that told me all about Springsteen. I got on a magic kick because of him and I can still do a few really great card tricks. We were close, very close. He lived on the far end of our neighborhood so it was a long walk or bike ride, but it was worth it. I mentioned his yard in a song... It was actually Jeff Weber’s yard but it didn’t have the right cadence so I took my liberty.<br>We got older and moved in different directions and although we never lost contact we did let some years slip away without actually seeing each other in person. For one reason or another, the few times I could play near Jackson he was unable to attend... Until last Thursday night. The last time he was at a show of mine was when I was in a Christian band. So it’s been a while and there have been significant changes to say the least. After the show he did what he always does to sort his thoughts, he wrote. Here’s what he had to say. I think he had some pretty deep insight for such a long break.</p>
<p><em>Travis,</em></p>
<p><em>First, what you guys are doing is very important work. When I was hearing it from a distance (and watching YouTube clips) I thought, "Well, these are well-constructed songs. They're sturdy and fine, but they don't speak to me." There didn't seem to be anything universal about them. It was more like, "Here's some shit that happened to me." Which was cool, but to me, the more anthemic, universally appealing songs make the most impact. As I just told Lisa, "being in the club, breathing the same air and feeling the emotion of the crowd, was like a revelation." I'm not bullshitting you or stroking your ego; we're way beyond that. I want to talk about what I felt last night. There was a famous review of a Bruce Springsteen show back when he was a Nobody. The critic wrote, "I have seen the future of Rock and Roll, and his name is Bruce Springsteen." The writer was a guy called Jon Landau. He said that he was feeling tired, and old, and past his expiration date, and he saw this band and this singer in a club and it was like he was reborn and that it made him feel young again and gave him the desire to keep moving forward and to find new mountains to climb. You are as good and as inspiring and as talented as anyone you have ever looked up to, and you've got one hell of a musical partner along for the ride. I fight with the English language daily because whatever you want to say, there is a perfect word for it, but sometimes the perfect word hides from you and you settle for something inferior. Which I'm about to do (sinus infection, so I'm just riffing and not worrying about being precise). I purposely strayed from the "Wingfield/South Jackson” crowd because I wanted (A) no distractions and (B) to get a cold-shot, straight feel for what you do at night. The emotion or theme (for lack of a better term) that kept washing over me through the night was "freedom." Freedom in every sense of the word. Freedom from old ghosts. Freedom from the humiliation of past mistakes; those have been addressed, accounted for, and buried. Freedom from addiction and harmful desires. Freedom from our inner voice of inferiority. The freedom to step over or walk around what Robert Johnson called the "stones in my passway." The freedom to fully embrace Life itself---setbacks and minor joys and happiness and illness and loss and all that it entails. You can't dictate to Life. It's going to happen and you never see what's around the curve, but the luxury of knowing that you've taken some blows and you are not through fighting and the next downer that life hands you Will Not Do You In is fucking powerful stuff, man. In my case, the message was incredibly liberating. The missionary work that you did was no doubt fulfilling (for a while at least). The work you're doing now is no less important. The stories between the songs are (in their way) as important as the songs. Those people came in last night, each individual with a different perspective, different fears, different mindsets, different moods, and (trust me) different degrees of sobriety (I never realized that people STILL get hammered and drive a car). And the things that you said and the songs that you two performed and the emotions you revealed and shared made an impact on EVERY PERSON THERE. However they walked in, they walked out with at least a temporarily altered point of view, a new slant on things and something tugging on their heart. And that is, again, powerful fucking stuff. So, yes...the experience spoke about freedom in all of its variations to me. I teared up a couple of times, and laughed a lot, but mostly simply absorbed what was happening, without drawing any immediate conclusion. The thing builds a momentum that the person in the audience doesn't even realize is happening. And here's the nut of it: I came away feeling that it was all free-form, that there is no gameplan or map or checklist of what to say at what point before you guys walk onstage. It struck me as being off-the-cuff and inspired by the moment. I hope that I'm right because I'm not a fan of pre-packaged or scripted messages. I'd go to church if that's what I wanted or needed, and I don't go to church. I assume the set list changes from night to night, and if that's the case, so does the experience. I want to keep going but I know your time is limited so I need to wrap it up. The acoustics in the room were horrible (but got better). There was a table of drunk chicks who were a major distraction until they got thrown out. The PA cut out in the last third of the very first song---just quit working---and I felt a real sinking feeling. But a roomful of people no doubt left the building feeling...liberated, if only for the moment. There were several stones in my passway that seemed to be conspiring against me; something desperately wanted me to miss that show. The audio issues and crowd noise seemed to be conspiring against you. But we stepped over or walked around them, and it felt like my car was three feet off the ground the entire way home. I have seen the light. You've got this. Trust your instincts and never forget that while a chunk of your audience has seen you countless times before, there will always be a couple or an individual who wandered in for whatever reason. You're playing to THAT person. Your core audience is solid and on board. It's the newbies that will be most affected by the experience. I could go on and on, but two things: thank you both for a wonderful night, and know that you are on a significant and fundamentally sound foundation. You have more of an effect with minimal lighting, shaky sound equipment and one excellent sideman, and you can move an audience more than these "big players" could ever hope to do. The fact that they charge $200 per ticket and you charged $7 last night gives them absolutely nothing in comparison---it's true grit as compared to pre-packaged show business. I'd love to talk about the future but that's enough for now. I think I'll pop this new CD in and relive it all, to an extent. </em></p>
<p><em>Peace and absolute love, </em></p>
<p><em>CB</em></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/51214922018-03-01T11:05:00-06:002023-12-10T13:30:24-06:00Woke Up on the Dan Patrick Show<p>Talking about "Underdogs" and great song titles...</p>
<p><a contents="[WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE]" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXnegOeFWbU" target="_blank">[WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE]</a></p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="nXnegOeFWbU" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/nXnegOeFWbU/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nXnegOeFWbU?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/50333492018-01-19T19:32:42-06:002018-01-19T19:32:42-06:00NoiseTrade: "Upside Down & Sideways" A Travis Meadows Sampler<p>A sampler of tracks from Travis' new album, First Cigarette, including an exclusive live version of "Bigger Boat." Also included here are two tracks from Travis' two previous releases - "Old Ghosts" from his Old Ghosts & Unfinished Business EP and "What We Ain't Got" from Killin' Uncle Buzzy.</p>
<p>Stream & download the six-track sampler titled "Upside Down & Sideways" on NoiseTrade now!</p>
<p><a contents="[VISIT NOISETRADE HERE]" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://noisetrade.com/travismeadows/upside-down-sideways/" target="_blank">[VISIT NOISETRADE HERE]</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/50333432018-01-19T19:29:28-06:002023-12-10T11:00:47-06:00Watch & Listen: "Sideways" [Live Acoustic Performance]<p>"Sideways" by Travis Meadows (Feat. Whiskey Jack Untz)<br>Written & performed by Travis Meadows<br>Recorded November 2017 at American Legion Post 82, East Nashville, TN<br>Directed by Steve Condon for The 10:10 Creative<br>Executive Producer: Derek Simon</p>
<p><a contents="[WATCH ON YOUTUBE]" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNwdZif1q9A&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">[WATCH ON YOUTUBE]</a></p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="kNwdZif1q9A" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/kNwdZif1q9A/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kNwdZif1q9A?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/49901022017-12-21T13:40:00-06:002018-03-01T11:04:16-06:00The Ringer: The Most Underrated Albums of 2017<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Travis Meadows, First Cigarette </strong></span></p>
<p>Here is the way 50-something Nashville folk-country singer Travis Meadows describes himself: “An orphan who turned into a preacher. A preacher who turned into a songwriter. A songwriter that turned into a drunk. A drunk that is learning to be a human being.” He’s a “your favorite artist’s favorite artist” craftsman in the Chris Stapleton mode; the cover of his breakout album has the elegantly grizzled-badass vibe of a Southern Tom Waits. The songs follow suit, sung in a honeyed 10-packs-a-day growl, hailing the redemptive powers of Bruce Springsteen and abject failure and the way “bitter roads turn into highways.” His best chorus sums up both the triumph and the tragedy here: “I’m doin’ alright for a guy like me.” All the bridges he’s burned just keep him warm.</p>
<p><a contents="(READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM THE RINGER HERE)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.theringer.com/2017/12/21/16803336/most-underrated-albums-of-2017" target="_blank">(READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM THE RINGER HERE)</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/49901012017-12-19T13:35:00-06:002022-05-29T05:05:32-05:00NPR World Cafe Nashville: 20 Indie Discoveries From 2017<p>'Sideways' by Travis Meadows</p>
<p>Travis Meadows has quite the back story, having lost a leg at 14, served in the Christian mission field, cycled through recovery programs and hustled on Music Row to get his songs recorded by the likes of Eric Church and Dierks Bentley. When he gets around to releasing his own stuff, it has the battered, visceral power of a survivor's testimony.</p>
<p><a contents="(READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON NPR HERE)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/world-cafe/2017/12/19/571699020/world-cafe-nashville-20-indie-discoveries-from-2017?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nprmusic&utm_term=music&utm_content=2048" target="_blank">(READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON NPR HERE)</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/49900862017-12-18T13:30:00-06:002020-12-03T07:16:23-06:00NPR 'All Song Considered': #70 Best Album of 2017<p><span class="font_large"><strong>70. Travis Meadows, 'First Cigarette'</strong></span></p>
<p>All year long, Robin Hilton and I get to pick the music featured on All Songs Considered, but one of our very favorite shows is this one: our listener poll results. So, on this episode we count down the top 10 as voted by you. We also have a list with the top 100 albums at the bottom of the page, and hope it turns you on to music you may have missed in 2017. (It did for us). </p>
<p>Often, our annual listener poll ends up constructing some type of narrative about the music we listened to. For example, 2015 was kaleidoscopic in terms of genre diversity, while 2016 found listeners united in monumental releases that merged the personal and the political. But 2017 was a year where such a narrative was less clear.</p>
<p><a contents="(READ THE FULL LIST OF ALBUMS ON NPR ALL SONGS CONSIDERED)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2017/12/18/570799909/poll-results-all-songs-considered-listeners-100-favorite-albums-of-2017?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nprmusic&utm_term=music&utm_content=2047" target="_blank">(READ THE FULL LIST OF ALBUMS ON NPR ALL SONGS CONSIDERED)</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/49900282017-12-07T13:15:00-06:002017-12-22T13:27:53-06:00Rolling Stone: 'First Cigarette' #20 Best Country & Americana Album of 2017<p><span class="font_large"><strong>20. Travis Meadows, 'First Cigarette' </strong></span></p>
<p>"When you're young, you don't think about getting old," sings Travis Meadows on "McDowell Road," a moment on First Cigarette that's about taking stock of how quickly life passes us by, and how delicate each breath is. Meadows would know – he's fought addiction, overcome illness and pulled himself out of desolation to become one of country's most treasured songwriting weapons (called in by Eric Church and Dierks Bentley to give their albums a potent punch). Meadows sings like a man who's felt the pull of the darkness but chose to find the light: With a raspy imperfection to his delivery, he illustrates his stories through details that penetrate, from the kiss of some Coppertone on the skin to the deep, dangerous satisfaction of the morning's first cigarette. It's in the minutiae that Meadows finds the universal moments, coming out with an album that's equal parts hurt and healing, and one that may linger long after the smoke has cleared. M.M.</p>
<p><a contents="(READ MORE FROM ROLLING STONE HERE)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.rollingstone.com/country/lists/40-best-country-albums-americana-albums-of-2017-w513189/travis-meadows-first-cigarette-w513242" target="_blank">(READ MORE FROM ROLLING STONE HERE)</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/49625752017-12-04T22:11:28-06:002020-11-29T22:55:35-06:00BobbyCast: Episode 91 - Travis Meadows Featured On Bobby Bones' Podcast<p>Bobby Bones sits down with Travis Meadows to speak about the new record "First Cigarette," songwriting and hard living.<br>Listen to the BobbyCast online or on the iHeart Radio app - <a contents="LISTEN" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/139-Bobby-Cast-27722337/" target="_blank">LISTEN</a></p>
<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="400" src="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/139-Bobby-Cast-27722337/episode/91-travis-meadows-artist-28702848/?embed=true" width="300"></iframe></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/49900832017-12-04T13:20:00-06:002017-12-22T13:29:33-06:00UPROXX: 'First Cigarette' #41 Best Album of 2017<p><span class="font_large"><strong>UPROXX BEST ALBUM<br>41. Travis Meadows, 'First Cigarette'</strong></span></p>
<p><a contents="(READ FULL ARTICLE ON UPROXX: BEST ALBUMS)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://uproxx.com/music/best-albums-of-2017-ranked-list/" target="_blank">(READ FULL ARTICLE ON UPROXX: BEST ALBUMS 2017)</a></p>
<p>Travis Meadows is a brand new old country stunner that everybody in Nashville has been talking about since his debut album, Killin’ Uncle Buzzy, began making the rounds among heavy-hitters back in 2011. A lo-fi, homespun revised collection of his journals and notes from a final, successful stint in rehab, Meadows followed that searing record up with another lowkey EP, Old Ghost & Unfinished Business in 2013. </p>
<p>But it wasn’t until this past year or so that Meadows scraped together enough cash to cut a country record the way he saw fit; First Cigarette is the result, a grizzled, world-weary but still beaming collection of songs that salute topics as like underdogs, backroads, and Bruce Springsteen with the same fervor and cleverness of any fresh-faced youngster singing radio-friendly fare. </p>
<p>Helmed by hitmaking country producer Jay Joyce, and refined and revised with and songwriter Jeremy Spillman, First Cigarette is Meadows working at the height of his powers, plumbing the depths of despair, and delivering everything from brutal, buzzy lullabies like the title track, to bluesy, zydeco kiss-offs like the ornery closer, “Long Live Cool.” Even on the album’s clear centerpiece, “Pray For Jungleland,” Meadows tempers his nostalgia with a burning appreciation for the present, something more of country’s elder statesmen could stand to emulate.–C.W.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>UPROXX BEST SONG <br>40. Travis Meadows, 'First Cigarette'</strong></span></p>
<p><a contents="(READ FULL ARTICLE ON UPROXX: BEST SONGS 2017)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://uproxx.com/music/best-songs-of-2017-ranked/3/" target="_blank">(READ FULL ARTICLE ON UPROXX: BEST SONGS 2017)</a></p>
<p>Travis Meadows has a life that sounds like the short end of the stick. No matter. On First Cigarette, he breaks that stick in half and throws both ends into the fire, letting the pain dissolve in crackling odes that may light the way for future sufferers. As a child, Meadows lost a leg to cancer, watched helplessly as his baby brother drowned, and struggled with the demons of addiction for decades. Now sober, the title track off his new dark and stunning new country record grasps at the tiny comforts of a life now shielded from larger perils. Like a glowing ember, the song barely rises above a growling lullabye whisper, detailing every turn of desire and despair that Meadows has seen over a steely guitar backbone and echoing percussion. Burning bright and true like all the country greats, this song is a silky, resilient spark that won’t go out, no matter how many times you light it up.–C.W.</p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/49900062017-12-01T13:00:00-06:002023-12-10T12:43:39-06:00GRAMMYs & MusiCares: Travis Meadows Talks Sobriety, Songwriting & 'First Cigarette'<p>Well, it was in the very beginning. Sadly, I did not even know that MusiCares existed. I lived in a bubble — my drinkin' bubble. And when I came to the point when I said, "I need help," and just started telling everybody, "Get me outta here. What do I do?" There were some people that were somehow connected to MusiCares, and they are the ones that put me in treatment that very first time. </p>
<p>It's all a blur. All I remember is making that call, and I remember that MusiCares came up, and my [former] wife said, "Pack your bags, you're going in." And the very next morning I was on my way to treatment for the very first time. So MusiCares has been a part of my entire recovery experience. I am very, very grateful to them.</p>
<p><a contents="(READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM GRAMMY.COM HERE)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.grammy.com/musicares/news/travis-meadows-talks-sobriety-songwriting-first-cigarette" target="_blank">(READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM GRAMMY.COM HERE)</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/48942172017-10-14T18:40:00-05:002017-10-18T10:21:17-05:00NPR Weekend Edition: 'I Take The Long Way Going Everywhere' Travis Meadows <p><span class="font_large">'I Take The Long Way Going Everywhere': Travis Meadows On Learning To Be Human Again</span><br><span class="font_large">Interview with Scott Simon - <a contents="LISTEN HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.npr.org/2017/10/14/557350612/i-take-the-long-way-going-everywhere-travis-meadows-on-learning-to-be-human-agai" target="_blank">LISTEN HERE</a></span></p>
<p><em>Let's talk about the title track, "First Cigarette." You sing, "I am a little more content with who I am than who I was." Tell me about the contentment part in your life: What are you feeling now that's different? </em></p>
<p>Just to give you an example — I hate even going down this road, but for you I will. I would wake up in the morning, and the first thing that I would do is go to the freezer. By this time, I had completely gotten rid of any mixers — just vodka out of the freezer. I was shaking so bad I couldn't actually hit my mouth. I would hold the bottle with both hands trying to steady it, and finally I would get a sip down and I could feel it from the top of head: I'd start getting warmer and I started feeling human again. These days, I don't go to the freezer. I'm eating pretty good, I'm sleeping pretty well. I'm spending a lot of quality time with my son. </p>
<p><em>Do you think that everything that's happened to you can find its place in a song? </em></p>
<p>I do. You know, oddly enough, a lot of times I don't know how I feel about something until I write about it — it's part of my processing. <br>I've always been quite a pessimist, and I've been trying to battle that now that I'm seven years sober. You know, it's the glass half full or the glass half empty, and I was always like, "Who drank my water?" But these days, it's a half-full glass, isn't it? And it's a nice one, I love that glass. Look how it sparkles in the sunshine.</p>
<p><a contents="(READ OR LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW FROM THE NPR WEEKEND EDITION ARCHIVES)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.npr.org/2017/10/14/557350612/i-take-the-long-way-going-everywhere-travis-meadows-on-learning-to-be-human-agai" target="_blank">(READ OR LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW FROM THE NPR WEEKEND EDITION ARCHIVES)</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/48942132017-10-14T18:20:00-05:002017-10-16T18:19:40-05:00Rolling Stone: Why Songwriter Travis Meadows Is Nashville's Favorite Underdog<p>It's said a critical rule of recovery from addiction is learning to be self-honest. Sometimes to the point of discomfort. Travis Meadows knows this feeling well. "I've always struggled with fear," says the Mississippi-raised singer-songwriter who lost his right leg to cancer at age 14; was in and out of rehab four times before finally getting sober in 2010; saw his girlfriend recently get diagnosed with breast cancer and his three-legged dog Larry, who appears on the cover of his new album, go missing. He's one of Nashville's most honest songwriters, "but it's still a little terrifying when you put yourself out there," he says. "I tell a lot of truths in my songs. I give little secrets away." </p>
<p>To his most ardent fans and peers, including Eric Church, Dierks Bentley and Jake Owen, who have all cut Meadows' songs for their respective albums, his open-book approach to his craft is his greatest gift. But Meadows lives in fear of rejection. That ever-lingering sense of distrust remains – the one he's had since 14 when his bandmates laughed the then-drummer out of the room for bringing in intense and personal lyrics. "So I put them in a secret place in my heart for a long time," Meadows says of the raw, confessional and brutally honest songs he was writing even back then. "I still look at my songs kind of like children," Meadows continues of his gnarly narratives often populated with Dylan-esque loners and drifters, and imbued with the sort of dark humor fans of Haggard might appreciate. "And there was a time when I was scared people were going to say, 'Your kid's ugly.' So the easier way was to keep them in the closet and not let anybody see them."</p>
<p>(<a contents="READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM&nbsp;ROLLING STONE HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/country/features/why-travis-meadows-is-nashvilles-favorite-underdog-w508798" target="_blank">READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM ROLLING STONE </a><a contents="HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/country/features/why-travis-meadows-is-nashvilles-favorite-underdog-w508798" target="_blank">HERE</a>)</p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/48942162017-10-13T18:40:00-05:002022-09-14T08:40:06-05:00New Album 'First Cigarette' NOW AVAILABLE!<p><span class="font_large">The new album is finally here... Available everywhere! </span></p>
<p>Please feel free to download on <a contents="iTunes" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/first-cigarette/id1279466895" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, stream on <a contents="Spotify" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/5d2EFS71gAHBeP1KWOBgCA" target="_blank">Spotify</a> or purchase a CD hard copy right <a contents="here" data-link-label="store" data-link-type="page" href="/store" target="_blank">here</a> on the website.<br>Below you will find what everyone is saying about the highly-anticipated album...</p>
<p>"Meadows also played and sang simultaneously, instead of overdubbing. That enhances the raw emotion in his lyrics, making them connect with unusual potency through first and second takes on tunes that reverberate with emotion, positivity and, perhaps above all, perseverance." - American Songwriter <a contents="(read here)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://americansongwriter.com/2017/10/travis-meadows-first-cigarette/" target="_blank">(read here)</a></p>
<p>"The closest stylistic comparison here might be Chris Stapleton, and while Meadows has a dedicated following among musicians, he hasn’t reached that level of acclaim. If he keeps putting out music this earthy and evocative, it’ll happen soon enough." - Associated Press <a contents="(read here)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/review-travis-meadows-lays-it-out-there-with-hard-won-grit/2017/10/11/55ba05c4-ae8e-11e7-9b93-b97043e57a22_story.html?utm_term=.7a4e0c8aa793" target="_blank">(read here)</a></p>
<p>"This album’s gonna change all that. He’s the real goddam deal, and I will stake my reputation as an aging music critic on it. That’s a five-out-of-five-stars rating at the top of this review, too. Watch the year-end accolades come in, and keep your eye on the awards ceremonies that follow." - Blurt Magazine <a contents="(read here)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://blurtonline.com/review/travis-meadows-first-cigarette/" target="_blank">(read here)</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/48792562017-10-05T18:08:25-05:002017-10-05T18:08:25-05:00American Songwriter Magazine: Keep Breathing - A Q&A with Travis Meadows<p>Travis Meadows may be the most resilient member of the entire Nashville music community. He has battled cancer, addiction, family deaths and more, yet somehow managed to never give up. His heart-wrenching and raw first country album, Killin’ Uncle Buzzy, was released in 2011, after Meadows reached the darkest phase of his life, and amidst several stints in rehab. Meadows has since returned with his highly anticipated third album, First Cigarette, which is set for release October 13 via Blaster Records. Despite a life of struggle, First Cigarette is a testament to how Meadows has fought to find peace in the little things that make life worth living. </p>
<p><strong>So First Cigarette. Can you tell me about the title? </strong></p>
<p>I kind of went back and forth on that. This part of my career has been about overcoming, so underdog was kind of an obvious choice. But I don’t always particularly like going in the obvious direction with artwork and titles, and First Cigarette has a line that says, “learn to love the comfort when it comes, like a first cigarette in the morning buzz,” and I think that really sums up where I’m at in my life and the heart of the record. Because life can be very challenging, but there are those shining moments and it’s really, really great when they come.</p>
<p><strong>First Cigarette seems to be a bit more hopeful than Killin’ Uncle Buzzy. How does that reflect how your life has changed since then? </strong></p>
<p>So, on Killin’ Uncle Buzzy, I had reached a really dark point in my life. Sometimes I joke about it onstage that I had real bad day that lasted for six years. I basically just kind of checked out. I was always a get-back-up person, but there came a point where I just said, “God, if this is the best plan you’ve got, I’m done.” So I just kind of laid down, took a break, stayed drunk for six years. I kind of got tired of the chaos that went with that and I had a boy I wanted to live for, so I started asking for help. I went to rehab. My first rehab was so great — everybody should always go to rehab once, it’s that good. I enjoyed it so much I went back three more times. The last time, one of the counselors suggested that I keep a journal and I said, “I don’t keep journals but I do write songs,” and they kind of laughed. I said, “I’m not kidding, I don’t want to die,” and they told me that the good part of keeping a journal was that you see the progress you’re making and it may inspire you to keep going.</p>
<p><a contents="[READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE - AMERICAN SONGWRITER]" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://americansongwriter.com/2017/10/keep-breathing-qa-travis-meadows/" target="_blank">[READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM AMERICAN SONGWRITER]</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/48792652017-09-28T18:20:00-05:002022-03-11T01:11:58-06:00Travis Meadows on Music City Roots 9.27<p style="text-align: center;">Watch Travis Meadows & Whiskey Jack perform 'Better Boat'<br>Music City Roots 9.27</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="tFFo5b-7bMc" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/tFFo5b-7bMc/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tFFo5b-7bMc?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Watch the full live stream from Music City Roots 9.27 <a contents="HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://livestream.com/musiccityroots/live/videos/163454803" target="_blank">HERE</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/48652562017-09-25T23:37:05-05:002023-12-10T11:36:52-06:00UPROXX Feature: Travis Meadows’ ‘First Cigarette’ Is The Height Of Country Myth-Making<p>To say Travis Meadows has had a hard life is an understatement. In fact, he’s had about four of them. At 52, Meadows has ultimately reached his final form: A country songwriter on the verge of a huge breakout, but the years it took to get him to the debut of his stunning new album, First Cigarette were brutally dark. </p>
<p>Technically his third country album, this record is the first one where Meadows has really been able to work on the songs with two other professionals, he wrote and recorded this collection of songs with Jay Joyce (Little Big Town, Brandy Clark, Brothers Osborne) and songwriter Jeremy Spillman, polishing and reworking them until they reached a new pinnacle, even for him. It comes out October 13 on Blaster Records. </p>
<p>Widely regarded as a legendary Nashville songwriter over the past few years, Meadows wrote the title track off Dierks Bentley’s fantastic 2014 album “Riser,” along with Eric Church’s “Knives Of New Orleans,” and “Dark Side,” among others. But to hear him aching for the tiny buzz and beauty of a nicotine hit, like he does on the album’s title track, “First Cigarette,” is to hear a man who has been hell and back find respite in the small joys he still has left.</p>
<p>From the time he was a small child, Meadows has been struggling just to stay alive, and that kind of comes through on songs like “First Cigarette,” or the album’s other standout, a nostalgia-leaning Springsteen strummer called “Pray For Jungleland,” a working-class dream rock track that immediately caught the attention of Rolling Stone. But when it comes to the story of this record, “First Cigarette” is closer to the heart of who Meadows is now. Whatever sorrow or wisdom comes through in Meadows songwriting has been hard earned. </p>
<p>When he was just two years old, Meadows saw his younger brother drown near his Mississippi home, and that wasn’t even the only tragedy that would mar his childhood. Whether it was due to the strain of that incident or other forces, his parents soon divorced, and Meadows went to go live with his grandparents; while both parents remarried and tenderly began new families, he was left excluded from either one. At the age of eleven he began using drugs to cope with what he’d already endured at such a young age, and a couple years later, at fourteen, he was diagnosed with cancer. Though he survived, the disease ultimately cost him his right leg from the knee down. </p>
<p>“By the time that I got an idea of which way the wind was blowing, life was terrifying,” Meadows remembered when we talked by phone a couple weeks ago. “I think humans are very resilient animals, and I think we have more in us than we know, we just don’t know it until we go through something; we have this built-in survival instinct. I was going through puberty and cancer at the same time — both of those are tragic enough in themselves. But to do them at the same time? But I would always get back up… that’s just what you do.”</p>
<p><a contents="READ MORE via UPROXX" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://uproxx.com/music/travis-meadows-first-cigarette-country-myth-making-the-rx/" target="_blank">READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE via UPROXX</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/48417352017-08-02T07:10:00-05:002022-03-02T01:33:28-06:00Rolling Stone Country Exclusive: Hear Travis Meadows Evoke Springsteen in New Song 'Pray for Jungleland'<p>Click <a contents="HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/country/news/hear-travis-meadows-nod-to-springsteen-in-new-song-w495417" target="_blank">HERE</a> to read Rolling Stone Country's peek of the new record... "First Cigarette" Available 10/13</p>
<p>There are honest country-music songwriters in Nashville, and then there's Travis Meadows, a writer who can't help but shine a light on his darkest flaws and ugliest demons. Since releasing his painfully autobiographical chronicle of his four stints in rehab, Killin' Uncle Buzzy, in 2011, the Mississippi native has become a favorite collaborator of Eric Church and Charlie Worsham, and had his songs recorded by artists from Church and Randy Houser to Dierks Bentley and Jake Owen. </p>
<p>"That's what I bought with my Jake Owen money," Meadows says, motioning to a 2000 Ford Excursion hogging up the small driveway of the East Nashville home he shares with his girlfriend. Owen cut Meadows' ballad "What We Ain't Got," taking it to Number 14 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart in 2015. Its success provided Meadows with a modest royalty check – enough for him to buy an SUV to drive to gigs with his loyal sideman, "Whiskey Jack" Untz and, more importantly, help fund his eagerly anticipated new full-length album, First Cigarette. </p>
<p>Set for release on Friday, October 13th, the LP was produced by Jeremy Spillman, with Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Little Big Town) offering feedback as executive producer. The significance of the album hitting on Friday the 13th isn't lost on Meadows. "I can be a dark son of a bitch," he says. </p>
<p>But on this day, Meadows has a spring in his step, thanks to his album finally having a home – on Blaster Records – and because of a shiny new red prosthetic that he says makes him look like Iron Man. Meadows lost his right leg to cancer at age 14. Opening the door to a 1975 Winnebago camper he keeps tucked behind the house as a refuge, he bounds up the stairs to talk about the inspiration for First Cigarette and one of its fan favorite tracks: the Bruce Springsteen-inspired "Pray for Jungleland."</p>
<p><a contents="[READ MORE]" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/country/news/hear-travis-meadows-nod-to-springsteen-in-new-song-w495417" target="_blank">READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE via RS COUNTRY</a></p>
<p> </p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/48417612015-06-15T07:20:00-05:002021-10-29T00:28:51-05:00Dierks Bentley Speaks with Billboard About New Single 'Riser'<p><span class="font_large">Dierks Bentley Explains Why New Single 'Riser' Is a 'Once In a Career' Song</span></p>
<p>Co-written by Nashville aces Travis Meadows and Steve Moakler, “Riser” was sent to Bentley by his executive producer, Arturo Buenahora, amid a swirl of vulnerability: He was mourning the 2012 passing of his father, Leon, and soon he’d learn that his wife, Cassidy, was pregnant with their son, Knox. He didn’t simply relate to lyrics like “The hard times put the shine into the diamond/I won’t let that keep us in the ground” -- he was living them.</p>
<p>Dierks Bentley’s against-all-odds new single "Riser" may be the album’s fifth, but it’s been at the forefront of the singer’s mind since the day he heard it. </p>
<p>“I was searching for that one song that gives the album context, and when I heard ‘Riser’ for the first time I knew that was the cornerstone of the album,” Bentley tells Billboard. “I knew that’s what the album was going to be called, and I built it around that song.” <a contents="[READ MORE]" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/country/6598030/dierks-bentley-riser-new-single" target="_blank">[READ MORE]</a></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/34149412014-12-18T13:01:06-06:002021-06-17T11:59:46-05:00"What We Ain't Got" #22 Best Country Song of 2014<p>Congratulations to Travis and Jake Owen on their recent success with <em>What We Ain't Got</em>!<em> </em>It has received quite an applause from country radio and listeners around the world. </p>
<p>"Owen had been gushing about this bare-bones ballad written by addiction survivor Travis Meadows since before he ever cut it. Its pull-no-punches message appealed to the Florida native, who was worried about being pigeonholed as the carefree "Beachin'" guy, thanks to a string of summery hits. Owen all but smashed that fear with "What We Ain't Got," a song as deep as "Barefoot Blue Jean Night" was frothy. In the process, he took a giant leap in establishing himself as a vocalist too, opting to record the song with only a piano supporting him. Most surprising? Radio is actually playing it."</p>
<p>Read more <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/25-best-country-singles-of-2014-20141217/jake-owen-what-we-aint-got-20141217" target="_blank"><span style="color:#008080;">here</span></a>.<br><br>From Jake: <em>I love Travis as a singer/songwriter. A couple of records ago, I cut one of his songs called 'Cherry on Top,' which is a long way from this song. He had a record called 'Killin' Uncle Buzzy,' which he wrote when he was getting treatment, and the song was on the record, and I would sit on the bus while I was out on the road and listen to it," Owen said, admitting that the song hit him between the eyes as well as in the heart. "There was so much honesty in it. I've learned that in order for me to move on down the road in my career and be a part of this genre that it's all about great songs. It doesn't matter who wrote it or where it came from. It's all about the music.</em><br><br>Read the Billboard interview <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/6397802/jake-owen-interview-what-we-aint-got" target="_blank"><span style="color:#008080;">here</span></a>.<br><br>Not only have people been talking about the song, but there has been a huge support for the music video! This heart-wrenching ballad brought an entirely new and worldly perspective to Travis' original message... Travis even makes a cameo within the video. See for yourself!<br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="GGQmKA15VCk" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/GGQmKA15VCk/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GGQmKA15VCk?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="400" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>Travis Meadowstag:www.travismeadows.com,2005:Post/48417622014-10-08T07:25:00-05:002021-12-10T06:53:49-06:00Rolling Stone Country Names Travis Meadows "Nashville's Most Badass Songwriter"<p><span class="font_large">Nashville's Most Badass Songwriter Travis Meadows Shares Tragic Life Stories </span></p>
<p>The artist who conquered cancer and addiction, and made friends with Eric Church and Jake Owen, has penned some of country's most stinging songs...</p>
<p>Bolstered by the second chance afforded him by Killin' Uncle Buzzy, Meadows was in a better, but no less creative, mental state when he recorded its follow-up, last year's Old Ghosts & Unfinished Business. A collection of optimistic songs like the letter to his son "Wide Open" and the humorous "Good Country People," Unfinished Business was similarly therapeutic. "I needed that record to prove to myself I had moved past where I was on Killin' Uncle Buzzy. There's a lot more hope in it," he says, noting that he's beginning to write for another new project. "I don't know how I'm going to pay for it, but I'm excited about it." <a contents="[READ MORE]" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/travis-meadows-songs-interview-20141008" target="_blank">[READ MORE]</a></p>
<p> </p>Travis Meadows