Talking about "Underdogs" and great song titles...

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Travis Meadows, First Cigarette 

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…

'Sideways' by Travis Meadows

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.

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70. Travis Meadows, 'First Cigarette'

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). 

Often, our annual listener poll ends up constructing some type of narrative about the music…

20. Travis Meadows, 'First Cigarette' 

"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…

Bobby Bones sits down with Travis Meadows to speak about the new record "First Cigarette," songwriting and hard living.
Listen to the BobbyCast online or on the iHeart Radio app - LISTEN

UPROXX BEST ALBUM
41. Travis Meadows, 'First Cigarette'

(READ FULL ARTICLE ON UPROXX: BEST ALBUMS 2017)

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…

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. 

It's all a blur. All I remember is making that call, and I remember that MusiCares came up, and my [former] wife said…

'I Take The Long Way Going Everywhere': Travis Meadows On Learning To Be Human Again
Interview with Scott Simon - LISTEN HERE

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? 

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…

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…