All Photos taken at Magnolia Motor Lounge
in Fort Worth by Alan Mercer.
Travis Parker spent the first decade of his life living in Amherst, a suburb of Buffalo in upstate Erie County, New York. During this time, his older brother CJ played guitar in the local grunge/metal scene, exposing Travis to the music world. Hearing his brother’s influences like At The Drive In, Alice and Chains, and Metallica, became the first music of his liking.
In 1999, Travis and his family moved to rural NE Texas farming town, Ravenna. Hunting/ fishing, motocross, and over time country music became the new norm. In his early teens he became fascinated with songwriters like Chris Knight, Steve Earle & Todd Snider. This discovery of the Americana style music was when Travis says he started to really rely on music in personal aspects. He claims he hadn’t felt this connected with music since his first record purchase of Metallica’s 1991 self-titled album when he was 11.
Storytelling is something Travis has been doing since grade school as a hobby. Stories written about the people he knows, the lives they live and stories reflecting his own experiences.
Fast forward to 2010 when a 21 year old Travis is working full time with his family farming crops, raising Brangus cattle and peddling produce. That summer he was given an acoustic guitar from his father and began learning chords, writing his first songs that same year.
In 2013, Travis released his first album under ‘The Travis Parker Band’ titled ‘Finding Direction.’ Those first few years were spent opening up for local bands, playing various private parties, in the same small-town venues. Fueled by songwriting and the idea of sharing it with the world became a vision for Travis, one he would put virtually all his time and money into making it his reality.
In 2015 he re-branded by forming the Alternative Country band ‘Ravenna Sun.’ They’d share the stage with artists such as Shane Smith, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Reverend Horton Heat. The reactions and criticism he received were even bigger and better but the choices he made were more detrimental. With multiple failed attempts at releasing a record, drunken nights became routine. After a divorce and a complete breakup with his band he stopped booking shows entirely and started working a Monday-Friday job. Luckily however, you can take the storyteller out of the stories, but you can’t take the stories out of the storyteller. Travis continued to write. This time- stories that were a lot closer to his heart.
The time off gave Travis a vital perspective on the moments and circumstances that have helped define him. It has helped strengthen his intimate relationship with only his voice and his guitar- helping find his true sound- one he is confident in.
In October of 2017, Travis felt it was time to get back on stage and give giggin' another go. He booked a two week solo mini-tour through New Mexico. He released his album, 'Wrecked' with his band the Losing Few.
With self-reflection came humbling and with newfound love came hope. In Spring of 2018, Travis released ‘Bent Leaf Sessions,’ a four track solo Acoustic EP. One song in particular that he was most eager to release, drove him to book the studio. ‘Leave It All Behind’ is an introspective song on love.
Travis now plays with 2 of the 3 original band members, Levi Miller (formally bass- now guitar) and Kayton Rickman (drums).
I talked with Travis and his long-time bandmate and friend Levi Miller at the Magnolia Motor Lounge in Fort Worth.
Alan Mercer: Are you originally from Fort Worth Travis?
Travis Parker: No, I’ve been here about a year and a half. I was born in Denison and moved to Buffalo, New York when I was one. We stayed there until I was twelve, then we moved back to North Texas and then we lived in Del Rio for a while.
AM: Travis, your album, ‘Wrecked’ has such a great Seventies music quality to it.
TP: I appreciate that.
AM: Did you write all the songs?
TP: Yes, I did.
AM: Where did the inspiration come from?
TP: That album has a lot to do with personal experiences. Mostly from being on the road playing music. Second would be the people I’ve met on the road and third, people that I’ve grown up with and seeing them evolve into where they are now.
AM: How old were you when you got into music?
TP: I started playing guitar when I was twenty-one. That was my first instrument.
AM: I’m noticing quite a few musicians don’t get started until they are in their twenties.
TP: I honestly was never even a music fan. I liked the couple of albums that I did buy when I was young. The first album I bought was the Black album from Metallica. I was ten years old.
AM: I can hear the influence on your album.
TP: Yes, James Hetfield is a huge influence vocally.
AM: I don’t hear that style of music too much here.
TP: Yeah, it’s not around here too much. To this day I don’t listen to much music.
AM: Well, now you are creating music, so you don’t have to listen to anymore.
TP: If I listen to too much music, I end up ripping people off.
AM: That makes sense. When did you record ‘Wrecked?’
TP: I recorded it in 2015. We recorded in eight or nine different studios. Then I recorded an EP where I went in and played live in a studio.
AM: Your music videos are so well produced. Do you work with a team?
TP: I work with Chris Romaine out of Sherman, Texas. Also, Tyler and Bo. We’ve been friends for years. Chris recorded some of my early stuff. Then the other two guys started doing videography. We do work as a team. it’s a super group up there as far as musicians, studios, photographers and videographers.
AM: I know you play two kinds of shows, acoustic and full band rocking out. Do you prefer one over the other?
TP: I don’t have a preference. I’ve had more fun times with the band, but it wall depends on the venue and the kind of people who go there. Last night I played a coffee shop in Dallas and they were quiet and listening. It’s not a party, but it’s the same kind of reward to have people really listening. Both kinds of shows are good when they are good. I have totally different play lists for the two shows.
AM: You could have two different groups of fans.
TP: Right, I think a lot of artists have that. They work on multiple projects for their creative outlets.
AM: I just love your voice.
TP: It’s pretty rough. It worries me because I wonder how long it’s going to last.
AM: Have you ever considered voice lessons?
TP: I thought about that a couple years ago and some people have told me I should, but I think I’m too scared of what they’ll say. I know my singing technique is probably wrong. If they tell me I’m not going to have a voice forever, then at every show I’ll be waiting for that to happen. I think until I want something more that I can’t figure out myself, I don’t think I’ll go.
AM: Other raspy singers have been around forever so it’s do-able.
TP: I think so too. Also, I stopped smoking and that really helped.
AM: What would you have done for a living if you hadn’t gotten into music?
TP: I grew up farming. I come from a family of farmers and that’s what they’ve always done. I started farming from the minute I got here at twelve and all the way through high school and then through community college where I studied to be a fireman and I ended up working for two years as an EMT fire fighter. Then I picked up the guitar and it was more fun. I started making a little money doing that. So farming, fire fighter and music are the only three things I really liked and knew.
Travis Parker & Levi Miller
Alan Mercer: Levi, can you tell me a little something about working so closely with Travis?
Levi Miller: I met Travis two days after I turned twenty-one. I had been playing in an alternative rock band for a few years already. Then I started playing more Country music, which is what I was brought up on. I was looking for a few gigs. Travis had just moved to New Braunfels and I lived in San Antonio. He placed an ad on Craig’s List looking for a band with a photo of a crappy early Nineties Chevy van, which later became the great white buffalo. So, I thought anyone who would post a picture like this was just my style.
AM: That is awesome!
LM: It took a couple weeks, but he asked me to come and audition. I honestly didn’t have time, but I told him maybe he could come to one of my gigs. He then decided if I could play that music, I could play with him. Then I got a national tour offer so two months later he called and said we had some shows and are you ready?
AM: But you hadn’t even played together?
LM: I had never played with him, yet he trusted me enough to let me play. We had two rehearsals and played our first gig together.
AM: So, you found a musical family.
LM: Travis and I have been running buddies ever since we met. We had a lot in common because we both grew up in little sandpit watermelon farm kind of towns. They were the same, except he was in North Texas and I was in South Texas.
AM: Can you tell me a story about being in the band?
LM: Yes, we were playing at a place called Out of Bounds in Corpus Christie four years ago. It used to be a Strip Club. The band played on what used to be the catwalk. We got there the night before and decided to go to Dollar Tequila Night.
AM: Uh-oh!
LM: I don’t remember what the beef was, but Travis and I got into our first physical scuffle. The next morning, I woke up and Travis was in my room talking about how we had a show to do that night. I was wondering if he was going to fire me or if I was going to quit.
AM: That sounds so uncomfortable.
LM: Well, I notice he has a big purple mark on his neck and then I go into the bathroom and I have a purple mark on my forehead. Later that night we played the show and I had my favorite shirt on. It was an old 1982 Ramones shirt. It was an original that I wore all the time. It had a few holes too.
AM: I understand the love.
LM: I was outside after the show and some girl walked up to me and asked if she could rip my shirt up, but she didn’t wait for an answer. She started ripping it up. I immediately had an anxiety attack and I freak out. I walked away and I heard Travis screaming at the girl. I knew then, that he had my back.
AM: That must have felt good after the night before.
LM: That’s how it is with us. We’ve learned how to communicate a lot better now. I have played a band leader role now and we can actually write songs together. I contribute however I can.
To learn more about Travis Parker And The Losing Few visit his website https://www.travisparkermusic.com/