We were lucky to catch up with Travis Crawford recently and have shared our conversation below.

Travis, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I think I’ve always wanted to do something in the music world. As a kid I used to dream about having a band and singing in front of people. My dad and his brothers would always play their guitars/sing at family get togethers, and I always enjoyed watching them. It took me until my sophomore year of college to pick up a guitar and push myself to learn a song. Since then I’ve been hooked on playing songs and preforming music for people.

Travis, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Like many musicians it was to impress a girl haha! But there’s so much more to it than that. Growing up I’ve always had music in my life, at family get togethers my dad and his brothers would play guitar and sing. I think that’s when that fire started, but it wasn’t until my
sophomore year in college that I started to learn it. My dad said I could borrow his guitar but I had to learn a song and play it for him the next time I came home. At the time I was trying to impress someone by learning a Taylor Swift song haha. The summer I came home that year I was in love with all thing’s guitar and music. I started playing covers and posting them on Facebook and YouTube. Many people I had gone to high school with were big fans, and I believe I played my first open mic then. I would then work with an artist development company out of Cleveland Ohio. In our time together I recorded a single, and through them I met a producer by the name of Gary Sadker in Nashville that had his own recording studio (Red Ridge Entertainment). I recorded two EP’s with them and felt I was on top of the world. I started promoting my music online and came into contact with another artist group in Nashville. Though that situation didn’t work out it was a great learning experience and open my eyes to some of the downs that you’ll experience with chasing a dream. I gave up music after that and was about to walk away from Nashville when someone from PCG Artist Development reached out to me. I met with the owner Bernard Porter, and I talked with him about my struggles with music and how I was about to give it up. I’m super grateful that Mr. Porter and his team have always been there to support me. Working with them I released a new single last year and are currently working on new music!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn would be that in the music industry there are going to be people that hurt you. I was working with a artist development group in Nashville at the time, and I had done my research on them and reached out to artists who had worked with them. Things were good, I had recorded music and was set to release everything before Christmas. Unknowingly the company went bankrupt and the owner ran off with all the artists money, and we all had to find out what happened through third parties.

These things happened and it almost pushed me to give up music, but I found the group I work with now and I have such a great support system. I had to unlearn that just because it seems good doesn’t mean that it is, and you have to be ready for some hardships. With the hardships, sometimes great things can come out of them with new relationships.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

This is a tough one, I find great joy in being able to give back to those who have helped me get to where I am today. When I put on a show in my hometown I always will play for free or the lowest amount they
will offer me. To me, being able to give back through music is the best way to help others. That’s what
success is to me!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/traviscrawfordmusic?fbclid=IwAR2uh8K2wQwab78QeQuTaTQciYxZgPzM-Cpvh-IbdHU7Ud2fhR7KnAP2xIU
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/traviscrawfordmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/traviscrawfordmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCszL3zK8H66_sggsSB6-EOA/videos

Image Credits
Meghan Marie Studio