Performing at Schmidy’s Tavern, Palm Desert, Friday, November 13 8pm
By Lisa Morgan
I never questioned if the guy was good. My friend Jon Eben, former bandmate turned Nashville resident, songwriter and guitar slinger, was never known to be a bullshiter, nor did he ever give praise all that easily. “Travis Meadows is so hot,” he said, “Nashville stands around him just to keep their hands warm.”
I was soon introduced to Meadows, who had just released his album, Killing Uncle Buzzy, and yes, Meadows was definitely on fire. The album went straight into my veins as it did for many who were fortunate to stumble across this independently released, personal journal of Meadows’ climb from the pit of addiction. The album eventually became an underground hit among Nashville artisans. Some even called it the best album to come out of Nashville. But aside from the respect from his peers, Meadows was still waiting to make his mark and solidify his standing among the best of the best. What has happened over the last two years has been like watching a missile launch, and that rocket is still ascending.
As much as Meadows doesn’t want to be known for anything other than the quality of the songs he produces, the truth is, Travis Meadows has managed to accomplished amazing things on one good leg and two deaf ears, in spite of the addiction that did its best to do him in.
“I’m not the fastest, the best looking or the bravest. I’m a survivor. I survived car wrecks and cancer; addiction and religion. I quit smoking twice. I’ve been to rehab and jail. I’ve been interrogated by the KGB and threatened to be stoned to death by radical Hindi’s in India for giving bibles to kids. I’ve been shot at, cut at, loved on and hated, married and very alone. I fall down and I get up…often slowly. I am awesome and insecure. My pride is too big and my courage is too small. I have scars and missing parts that I hide, sometimes by standing in front of them and sometimes behind, because I don’t want to be identified with them or known for them. I am bigger than the sum of the few parts I have left. I am more than the road I’ve taken to get here. I am deeper than the stories I tell or the songs I write, and I’m shallow enough to lie in both. I am constantly reaching, becoming, changing and staying the same. Life is tragic and beautiful, and I intend to live it completely and thoroughly, as long as I have air in these lungs and a leg to stand on.”
It’s not hard to see where the authenticity bled from when he sat with Steve Moakler and wrote the song “Riser” picked up by Dierks Bentley as the title song for his Grammy nominated album and his current hit single. “When I first heard that song (Riser)…wow. It really hit me hard,” Bentley told Rolling Stone Country. “Not only did we know we were going to record it, but we thought it’d be the cornerstone of the record. You hear a song like that and you have to meet the guy behind it. And Travis has been through a lot — he’s lived and breathed and died with that song. I feel honored to have it.”
It seems when an artist wants to record a song that stirs the deeper wells, they turn to Meadows. “This song is a song I’ll hang my hat on because it is the best song I’ve ever recorded,” proclaimed Jake Owen as he called Meadows up to share the stage with him and perform, “What We Ain’t Got”. “Travis is such an amazing artist, singer and songwriter,” says Owen, who recalls sitting in on a writing session with Meadows six years ago. “I remember looking at him and thinking, ‘Man, I can’t hang with this guy. He’s better than me at this point in my life. I need to practice really hard.'” Owens later called to apologize to Meadows, genuinely sorry that the song didn’t do better on the charts, “only” peaking at number 18. The song has sold 369,000 copies in the US as of May 2015.
“When I heard Killin’ Uncle Buzzy, the honesty in that room was like somebody ripping a scab off a wound and pouring vinegar or lemon juice on it. It was just real,” shared Eric Church. “He lived everything he sang about [on Killin’ Uncle Buzzy]. You could feel that album was for him. It was therapy. Which the best music is. It’s been a muse for me in a lot of ways.” It was enough of a muse to inspire Church to invite Meadows to write with him on a couple of occasions, most recently, on his freshly released “Secret Album”, Mr. Misunderstood. The album anonymously delivered in vinyl, via snail mail, to the doorstep of thousands of fans, is already being referred to by many as a modern-country classic. Rolling Stone Country even gave 10 reasons to back up that claim, claiming that Church “never sounded more born to run than on ‘Knives of New Orleans.'” Rolling Stone goes on to say that, “‘Mistress Named Music’ and ‘Knives of New Orleans’ both pack serious storytelling punch. ‘Tonight, a bleeding memory is tomorrow’s guilty vein,’ from ‘Knives,’ ‘is half Jason Isbell, half Jamey Johnson, and pure Church.” Meadows’ fans know better.
“I never had an artist cut one of my songs and give it out for free,” said Meadows, the smile obvious even through the telephone. “If you listen to it like an album, from the first song to the last…well, it is one of the best records I’ve heard in a long time. Nobody knew it was coming out until they woke up to a package on their doorstep! There’s only five writers on the record, and I feel honored to be one of them. The more I get to know Eric Church as a man, the bigger fan I become of Eric Church the artist. He’s driven and motivated. He knows what he wants to say, and makes it happen. He’s got a great manager and label, but Eric Church is an artist through and through. He is one of those guys that when he calls me to work on his records, he already has an idea. I just help him sort through his thoughts. It’s refreshing to get in a room of like minds, and the fact that Jeremy Spillman, my best friend, was in on this – well it’s a perfect trifecta of like-minds, artistry and love. Eric has a lot of people after him. He juggles being a dad, being a husband and having a huge career. Still he took the time to send me the Rolling Stone link that lists our song, “Knives of Louisiana,” as number two of the ten biggest surprises of the record.”
It seems every conversation I have with Meadows, something newly fantastic is happening, and it is good to hear. This has been a long hard road for him. He did what few others would dare to do on two legs with perfect hearing: When his work dried up in the Christian music industry, disillusioned, foreclosed on and broke, he stepped out to begin an entirely different career from scratch.
“I’m deaf as shit,” Meadows told me in a way that let me know that a sparky Mississippi boy is alive and well inside this hard lived 50 year old. “Chemo burned up everything in my body and messed up my hearing, and what that didn’t mess up, rock and roll did. I went 20 something years reading lips and just paying very close attention. A friend of mine who does hearing aids for a living insisted on checking me out. He ran some tests, then came back to me with the saddest look on his face. ‘You need help. You really can’t hear a thing I’m saying, can you?’ Somehow, he figured out a way to get me some hearing aids. That wasn’t until my late 30s. I can her vowels, not consonants. Around that time in my life, I was scared to death. There I was, changing careers from the ministry to be a writer in Nashville. I had just made 30 phone calls to 30 people after being in the center of a national worship movement, and got nothing. I was pretty disillusioned. I told God, ‘If you want me to do this, you call them.’ I picked up my guitar. I had nothing left to lose.”
Today, Meadows has artists like Wynonna calling and leaving voice messages with his song, “Jesus and the Jukebox” playing in the background, saying “You amaze me. I am so thankful for you” (She will have two of Meadows’ compositions on her next album). Hank Williams Jr. made Meadows’ song, “God and Guns,” (previously recorded by Lynyrd Skynyrd) cut number six on his new album. And as he sat in his dressing room at the Country Music Hall of Fame getting ready to perform his “Broken Song” with the cast from the TV series, Nashville for the CMA Songwriter Series, country legend and old friend, Mark Collie (who plays the character Frankie), poked his head in to let Meadows know that his song, “Holdin What I Can’t Hold,” is going to air Wednesday, November 11.
Meadows fans can rejoice knowing that in February, Meadows, his tour brother “Whiskey Jack” (Jack Unck) and a high profile producer whom he cannot announce just yet, will begin recording a new album. Better yet, for the Southern California Chapter of “Travlers” he and Whiskey Jack will be performing live, something that even this wordy writer cannot put on paper to explain the magic and inspiration that pour out of this incredible performer. I strongly urge you to experience it for yourself.
FRIDAY, November 13 @ 8pm: Street Life Project Benefit Concert with Jann Browne (CCMA Entertainer of the Year and ACM Best Female Vocalist nominee), Cisco & Dewey (Grammy Museum celebrated session players for Gerry Goffin, Bob Dylan, Bruce Srpingsteen, Neil Young and more), High Lonesome recording artist, Rick Shelley, and House of Blues artists, Blue Eyed Lucy (acoustic). Suggested donation at the door: $10 (In the spirit of Street Life Project, no one will be turned away if they cannot donate at the door).
SATURDAY, November 14 @ 6pm: VIP Patio Concert at the home of Desert Road Studio in La Quinta. Food, soft drinks and adult beverages will be sold at the venue, benefiting Street Life Project. Admission is $25
SUNDAY AFTERNOON, November 15 @ 1-3 p.m.: SONGWRITING WORKSHOP – Travis Meadows will go over the music business as a whole, whether you are a performing artist, or not. All levels of experience welcome. He will discuss publishing deals and placement of songs on television and in movies. There will be a Q & A and a personal song review as time permits. Bring your songs and a device for them to be played on. Admission is $35 pre-sale, $45 at the door. Food and beverage sold separately by the venue.
SUNDAY EVENING, November 15 @ 5pm: Fireside House Concert at Citrus Country Club (private residence open to the public – limited seating). Includes Food, soft drinks and adult beverages. Admission is $35 with a portion of the proceeds going to Street Life Project.
(Photos by Steve Young Photography)
