Josh Travis is a salesman, both a salesman of songs and an actual salesman in his daily life. Though he isn’t like the salesman who annoyingly cold calls you on Tuesday afternoon, he is one who obtains a genuine sense of authenticity that hopes to entice and enlighten people on a fundamental human level through the grace of God. As one of Travis’ many wishes for his new album, Few of Days & Full of Trouble, is to hopefully “glorify God” and “point people to Christ in some way.”
Videos by American Songwriter
Travis’ first full-length album, Few of Days & Full of Trouble, is his first release since his EP, Landlocked, in 2017. Since his debut release, Travis’ life has changed both musically and personally, as the Pennsylvania-based musician is now the father of a six-month-old baby girl.
“I was searching for a while to find a place to land my feet as a songwriter at least stylistically, but I feel like I’ve found where to plant my feet and that helped me move ahead with making this record,” Travis tells American Songwriter. “I wouldn’t say I’m there completely. I don’t know if anybody ever really marks their place and sticks there.”
That being the case, Travis toiled and played with many genres for this album. The one that guided him most amidst writing and recording was country. However, Travis made clear that he doesn’t claim to be a “tried and true country singer,” as he “didn’t want to fake [his] way through that and make something in-authentic.”
Travis also shares a similar attitude when it comes to the Christian music genre, as he doesn’t believe himself to be a Christian singer. “Even if I’m not writing songs about my faith or religion specifically, I think it still bleeds through in some way,” he claims.
Travis’ noble pursuit of conveying worldly truths within his music originates from specific moments of his life, and one of the songs on the album that sheds light on this fact is “Opequon.” The ninth track on Travis’ 10-track album is a heart-wrenching bluegrass ballad set out to honor the influence his late uncle offered him throughout his life.
“When I was younger, he’d always have guitars around, so that was kind of my first taste of that,” Travis discloses. Furthermore, Travis has three brothers; thus, “it was always just interesting to watch him and my dad… and appreciate the brotherly sentimentality they had.” Travis metaphorically articulates this sentiment through one of the song’s opening lines I’m casting out for nothing if I ain’t following your lead.
As family played and continues to play a big role in Travis’ songwriting, another familial-themed song is “Old Beat Up Paint.” Which is a story about his parents rescuing an old beat-up paint horse and nursing it back to health. “I wasn’t being that poetic by saying he was an old beat-up paint, because he is pretty old and pretty beat up,” he notes.
The singer/songwriter says he never thought the track would go on the record as he was just “messing around not thinking anything of it.” However, that soon changed after he showed it to his band of five years, who insisted that it go on the album. Travis’ band all reside in his hometown of Eerie, Pennsylvania, and as he puts it, “we are all friends first.”
Despite the considerable influence family relationships have on his music and that he and his band are based in Travis’ hometown. Travis claims that his hometown and upbringing don’t consciously have any impact on his inspiration, at least in regards to the stylistic sound of his music. “Growing up I don’t think I could say I had great influences for country or Americana music…I can’t say it really contributed a lot, or at least in a way I can put my finger on,” he says.
Given Travis’ Northeastern hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, and alongside the genre of Americana/country that is often tagged to his music has led to a bit of internal conflict in his career. “There’s definitely been a little imposter syndrome I’ve wrestled with for sure,” he says.
That being said, Travis doesn’t claim to be something he’s not, and he is seemingly not defined by one genre. “These songs aren’t about one specific facet of my life,” he declares. Therefore, equipped with his lyrical talent, faith in God, refreshing down-to-earth persona, and the act of being authentic are what have led him to the point of releasing Few of Days & Full Of Trouble and kindly selling the raw sentiments he sings about on the record in hopes of touching people in the most wholesome way possible.
Few of Days & Full Of Trouble is out now.
Photo by Michael Estela / Sweetheart PR
