Live music returns

— Travis Collins to perform at the Gippsland Country Music Festival —

TRAVIS Collins is recognisably one of Australia’s leading male country musicians.

His soulful voice and earthy sounds performing heartfelt ballads and supercharged country-rock floor fillers.

“After the last two years of

COVID, we’re excited,” Travis began.

“I love playing festivals in Victoria. It feels like it’s been forever, and we just can’t wait to get down there and fire things back up, seeing the faces of the fans that we haven’t seen in so long.

“Everyone in my band is super pumped, not only to play for and see the fans, but see their fellow artists as well.”
Catching up with the likes of the Wolfe Brothers and Kasey Chambers backstage, Travis and his band haven’t been on the road in over a year.

“The funny thing about touring is the song that goes off one night can be completely different to what is slated the next night.

“One of my favourite things about festivals is that they’re slightly shorter than your usual touring gig – you get to compress all the best stuff into the setlist – the highs of highs.

“We play the stuff that we’re excited to play, that we hope people are excited to hear and get them singing as loud as they can, dancing and laughing; leave them with a smile.”

With his first-born daughter but a couple of months old, Travis’ life is now an incredible and beautiful balance.

“It’s exciting, I hope I can speak on behalf of everyone in the music business, we’ve always felt very privileged and lucky to do what we do for a living, and as long as I’ve been in, I’ve seen great appreciation to be involved in this business, but it’s gone sky high.

“When you get two years, and people can take it away from you, you really start to realise just how much you love it and how integral it is to your identity.

“It’s the reason you get out of bed every morning.

“Being able to write songs that are about our lives and connect with other people and try and write the song that they need in their life, it’s a really special thing to be involved in.

“Getting back out there there’s a sense of extreme excitement; there is a deeper level of gratitude and appreciation for what we get to do.”

“Creatively, I’ve never written so many songs in my life, as I did throughout the COVID period.

“Getting online with other collaborators - it forced us to find new ways to connect without being in the same place.”

Modest, and an extraordinary man, Travis had but two aspirations as a kid, and lockdown provided the opportunity to not only write but fulfill his other wish.

“When I was a kid there were two things that I thought would be super cool. One was to be a touring musician, to go around and sing songs for a living, which I’ve been very fortunate to do for a long time.

“The next coolest thing I thought was to be a fireman. And during the pandemic, I took that opportunity to do all the training, the education and fitness tests. I’m very proud to say that I’m a qualified firefighter.

“It’s the complete opposite to what I do in the music industry, it’s a good balance for me.

“A lot of personal bucket list things were ticked, and my wife and I were blessed enough to fall pregnant with our first child.”

And, the real question, is little Ava a fan of country music…?

“She loves Brooks & Dunn; she loves country music.

“Sometimes she doesn’t really care what’s on, but the longer we can keep her loving the same music we do, the better.

“I know that eventually we’re going to be riding in the car listening to nothing but Baby Shark.”

With a big brother in Travis and Bec’s one year old Rottweiler and two smaller dogs, Ava’s life is guaranteed to be filled with laughter and kisses.

“He’s absolutely smitten. We are constantly trying to stop him licking her.

“He’s still a bit goofy in the sense that he hasn’t realised how big he is, he thinks he’s one of the little dogs – constantly trying to go under chairs and tables where he just does not fit.

“He will definitely have the best of her childhood together.”

With childhood comes dreams and aspirations, like Travis’ own, however, unlike most artists, his advice is not to rush it.

“Especially for the country scene. Wait until you know what you want to say, know who you are artistically – what makes you different and what makes you special.

“Everybody’s got their own story – wait until you know what yours is.

“As much as we see some great young artists emerging, I see so many young artists record stuff without really knowing who they are and it’s a great shame when that happens.

“Find out who you are, and when you know, then absolutely pull the trigger and go as hard as you can.”

A triple CMAA Male Artist of the Year and CMA Global Artist, nine studio albums and more than a handful of Golden Guitars to name but a few accolades up his sleeve, Travis’ modesty is one of his truest assets.

“You know, it’s funny, it seems like a lot – it’s like, wow, eight years of the best stuff crammed into one paragraph – sounds absolutely epic.

“It’s a thrill to be recognised by your industry, your peers. But it’s not the reason I get up and make music every day.

“The main accolade that I love is people singing along to the songs, there’s nothing higher than that.

“It’s pretty special to go to these awards and be nominated. And occasionally get a win like that. I’ve been very fortunate over the last few years to have more than my fair share.”

From strength to strength and an expansion of sounds and songs, his inspiration has grown, particularly recently.

“The last four months, the introduction of going from husband and wife to a family in my household is and has been something that’s just an endless well of inspiration.

“Watching my wife through pregnancy and how strong and amazing she was.

“The creation of a child and the raising of a child so far is the most difficult, but definitely the best thing I’ve ever been involved in.

“Living in the country is also a great source of inspiration, the characters that are out here.

“There’s always something to do, there’s always jobs that need doing.

“I’ve got a very well-rounded life at the moment and not one thing is everything.”

Even with the incredible highs and privilege that comes with being a musician, Travis is still human.

“My scariest moment on stage was CMC Rocks, eight or nine years ago.

“It was a really hot day, out in the full sun on stage.

“Trying to be a little too clever and show off a little too much I sang and hung on to this really, really high note for a long, long time.

“I don’t know if it was lack of water or the sun, but right at the end all my vision tunnel in and went black. I had to hang on to the microphone because I was so close to passing out.

“Luckily, I didn’t. I remember thinking ‘I’m gonna faint in front of 20,000 people’.

“Now, I don’t hit that note quite as long!”

By contrast, the stage also brings with it, Travis’ favourite piece.

“The one thing that I love is a constant that happens at every gig.

“When I get to the last song, and I get to say goodbye to the crowd, my band are behind me and they’re rocking out, I always make sure I take a moment to just stand at the front of stage and make contact with as many eyeballs as I can.

“Seeing people’s faces having ridden the same roller coaster that we just rode.

“It’s my favourite part of being in the music business right there, and I’m lucky that when we do it right, it gets to happen in every show.”

From stage highs, and celebrity status, joining NSW Fire & Rescue meant Travis became a number. He was no longer Travis Collins the musician, he could be a man, any man, who stepped in and helped, without desire for any recognition.

“I’ve met some amazing people in that organisation and through the work that we’ve done, and it’s just part of the overall balance of my life – everything that I find there is something that I don’t get anywhere else.”

Like music and family life, they’re all jigsaw puzzle pieces to the larger picture.

“In my music, I’ve written about first responders. Songs like Unsung, and Who We Are – it’s kind of always been something that I’ve wanted to do.”

As for what’s next, Travis is ‘still cooking that up’.

“We are in production of a new album, we’re starting to make some new tracks, and are approaching it in a way that we’ve never approached any album before.

“We are using players from all over the world, recording via the internet.

“Our drummer is in America, we have a bass player from the UK, we have musicians just scattered, the best that we can get all over the world.

“One of the things that COVID has taught us is that is that we are connected through the internet if we choose to be.

“We’ve got a list of songs, longer, wider and deeper than any list of songs we’ve ever had before; I’ve had two years to sit around and write!”

The upcoming album has also given Travis the opportunity to collaborate.

“I think people who have followed my career, for any length of time are going to be excited to see the collaborations that are on here, some of the names my diehard fans will know that I’ve wanted to collaborate with for a long time.”

“I’m just grateful to be back out, doing what I love to do.

“I can’t wait to get down to Gippsland and see everybody, and Victoria in general, we’re doing a little bit down there this year and I’m excited.”

For tickets to the Gippsland Country Music Festival, visit gippslandcountrymusicfestival.com.

For upcoming tour dates, visit traviscollins.com.au.