Travis Meadows

Travis Meadows (born 1965) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has released four albums, as well as writing songs for other country artists.

Travis Meadows
Genres	Country
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter
Years active	2011–present
Associated acts	Eric Church Dierks Bentley Frankie Ballard Jake Owen Blackberry Smoke Levi Lowrey Kenny Chesney

Early life

Meadows was born in 1965 in Mississippi, growing up in Jackson.[1][2] He began using drugs at an early age,[1] and when he was 14, he was diagnosed with bone cancer, which eventually led to the loss of most of his right leg.[1]

Music career

At the age of 16, he began playing in local bands, starting his musical career as a drummer before beginning to play the harmonica and guitar by the time he was 21.[2] During his early 20s, he performed with blues musicians such as Sam Myers, and moved to Gatlinburg, where he began writing songs.[2] In his mid-20s, Meadows became a Christian missionary and later a preacher, traveling around the United States and overseas, as well as writing and performing Christian music.[2] By his late 30s, however, he had become disenchanted with the church, and moved to Nashville to pursue a songwriting career.[2] He signed a contract with Universal Music Publishing, but at the same time his life-long drinking and drug habits led to a multi-year descent into alcoholism and abuse.[1] After four trips to rehab, he succeeded in regaining sobriety in 2010.[1]

In 2011, Meadows released a studio album, titled Killing Uncle Buzzy, written in 2010 while he was recovering from his alcohol addiction during his fourth period in rehab.[1] According to Meadows, a counselor had suggested keeping a journal, which led to him writing songs instead.[1] In 2013, after his songwriting contract with Universal expired, he began writing independently before signing with independent record label Kobalt Music and releasing a third album, Old Ghosts & Unfinished Business.[2]

In 2017, Meadows released his fourth album, First Cigarette. The album was produced by Jeremy Spillman and assisted by Jay Joyce, and it the first album by Meadows to receive label support.[3] It is also his first album to appear on Billboard charts, reaching No. 21 on Heatseekers Albums and No. 48 on Independent Albums. It sold 1,100 sold in its debut week,[4] reaching No. 17 on Americana/Folk Album Sales and No. 34 on Country Album Sales.[5]

Television appearances

In 2016, Travis Meadows was featured in an episode of the television show American Elements.[6]

Discography

Albums/EPs

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions		Sales
		US Heat [7]	US Indie [7]
My Life 101[8]	Release date: February 6, 2007 Label: Travis Meadows	—	—
Killing Uncle Buzzy[9]	Release date: July 19, 2011 Label: Travis Meadows	—	—
Old Ghosts & Unfinished Business (EP)[10]	Release date: May 7, 2013 Label: Travis Meadows	—	—
First Cigarette	Release date: October 13, 2017 Label: Blaster Records	21	48	US: 1,100[11]
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Songs Recorded by Other Artists

In addition to his solo work, Meadows has written songs for other country musicians.

Artist	Song	Album	Year
Kenny Chesney	Better Boat	Song for the Saints	2018
Blackberry Smoke	Medicate My Mind	Find A Light	2018
Blackberry Smoke	Seems So Far	Find A Light	2018
Brothers Osborne	While You Still Can	Port Saint Joe	2018
Lindsay Ell	Worth the Wait	The Project	2017
Randy Houser	Hot Beer and Cold Women	Fired Up	2016
Wynonna Judd	Things That I Lean On	Wynonna Judd & The Big Noise*	2016
Hank Williams Jr.	God And Guns	It's About Time	2016
Eric Church	Knives Of New Orleans	Mr. Misunderstood	2015
Levi Lowrey	My Crazy Head	My Crazy Head	2015
Dierks Bentley	Riser	Riser	2014
Levi Lowrey	Long Way Home	Levi Lowrey	2014
Frankie Ballard	Don't You Wanna Fail	Sunshine & Whiskey	2014
Eric Church	Dark Side	The Outsiders	2014
Jake Owen	What We Ain't Got	Days Of Gold	2013
Robby Armstrong	Better Me	Robby Armstrong	2013
Jimmie Van Zant	Chasing Shadows	Feels Like Freedom	2012
High Valley	Trying To Believe	Love Is a Long Road	2012
Blackberry Smoke	Pretty Little Lie	The Whippoorwill*	2012
Adam Brand	It's Gonna Be OK	It's Gonna Be OK*	2010
Flynnville Train	Friend Of Sinners	Redemption	2010
Jake Owen	Cherry On Top	Easy Does It	2009
Lynyrd Skynyrd	Gods & Guns	Gods & Guns	2009
Mary Gauthier	I Ain't Leaving	Between Daylight & Dark	2007

References

1. "Nashville's Most Badass Songwriter Travis Meadows Shares Tragic Life Stories". Rolling Stone Country. October 8, 2015. Archived from the original on August 21, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
2. "Exclusive: Songwriter Travis Meadows on writing Dierks Bentley's "Riser," his tragic past and finding redemption". Nashville Gab. July 16, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
3. Hyman, Dan (October 13, 2017). "Why Songwriter Travis Meadows Is Nashville's Favorite Underdog". Rolling Stone.
4. Bjorke, Matt (October 24, 2017). "TOP 10 Country Albums Sales Chart: October 24, 2017". Roughstock.
5. "Country Album Sales". Billboard. November 4, 2017.
6. "Travis Meadows : American Elements". CarbonTV. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
7. "Search results: Travis Meadows". Billboard.
8. "My Life 101 – Travis Meadows". Amazon.com.
9. "Killin' uncle Buzzy – Travis Meadows". Amazon.com.
10. "Old Ghosts & Unfinished Business [Explicit] – Travis Meadows". Amazon.com.
11. Bjorke, Matt (October 24, 2017). "TOP 10 Country Albums Sales Chart: October 24, 2017". Roughstock.