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Travers Brothership has been on an upward trajectory for a few years running. The success of the Asheville-based soulful rock band\u2019s 2016 album A Way to Survive<\/i> eventually led to a touring spot opening for popular jam band moe., and Travers Brothership has built on that success. While making plans for a series of live dates in Europe, the band celebrated the release of its second full-length, Let the World Decide<\/i>, with a November 2018 hometown show in Asheville.<\/p>\n
Inspired in part by their father, guitarist \u201cHurricane\u201d Bob Travers, brothers Eric and Kyle Travers launched their band in 2012. A debut EP, I Don\u2019t Mind<\/i>, earned positive notices, and Travers Brothership soon found itself opening for higher-profile, established bands on the jam and festival circuit. Closer to home, in 2015 the group secured a spot at the Xmas Jam by Day. By 2016 and the release of A Way to Survive<\/i>, the band was named Best Alternative Rock Band in Mountain Xpress<\/i>\u2019 Best of WNC poll.<\/p>\n
It was in late 2016 that Travers Brothership took a decisive step that would help make the band even more successful. \u201cAbout two years ago is when we got our first professional booking agent and really started touring heavily,\u201d says guitarist Kyle Travers. Since then, he says, \u201cwe\u2019ve probably done close to 300 dates all around the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some artists write songs on the road, but many need the focus that comes with spending time in one\u2019s home studio to compose new material. The members of Travers Brothership find that attending to one thing at a time works best for them. \u201cWhen we\u2019re on the road, we\u2019re very focused about making the shows better,\u201d Travers says. \u201cWhen we get home \u2013 when we actually have three or four days or a week off \u2013 that\u2019s when we can get most of our writing done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, experience is helping the band become more efficient. It took a long time for Travers Brothership to complete A Way to Survive<\/i>, but \u2013 co-producing again with Grammy-nominated Matt Williams at The Eagle Room \u2013 this time the band arrived in the studio with a clutch of new songs ready to be recorded. And time spent in close quarters on the road together \u2013 Travers laughingly calls it \u201cvan fever\u201d \u2013 has made the group more cohesive, resulting in a streamlined approach.<\/p>\n
The horn section that featured prominently on the band\u2019s last album is gone now. \u201cDean Mitchell went to play with the Marcus King Band, and Alex Bradley and Kyle Snuffer are now primarily with Empire Strikes Brass,\u201d Travers says. Today the group is a quartet: Travers, twin brother Kyle on drums, bassist Josh Clark and keyboardist Ian McIsaac.<\/p>\n
The slimmed-down band\u2019s sound now has less of what Travers calls a \u201cMuscle Shoals feel,\u201d and instead the song arrangements emphasize other elements. \u201cWe focus more on the songwriting and our three-part harmonies,\u201d Travers says. \u201cI get an organ solo and two extended guitar solos on the record. Josh [Clark] has a bass solo. It sounds a little bit more like a live show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Travers names diverse artists \u2013 Snarky Puppy and Jason Isbell among them \u2013 as influences upon the band\u2019s current musical direction. \u201cThe first album primarily focused on our old-school influences,\u201d he says. \u201cNow we\u2019ve found a way to comfortably blend old and new.\u201d Lyrically, the songs dig a bit deeper as well; that\u2019s likely a natural result of maturation.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that we\u2019ve lived a little bit out there in the world and have been through some stuff together, we can discuss on a more personal level how we feel, and how we believe life works,\u201d Travers says. With hints of Wet Willie and Steely Dan, the deep-groove album opener \u201cJaded\u201d extols the healing powers of music, expressed through the band\u2019s signature close vocal harmonies.<\/p>\n
With the new album complete and being readied for CD and digital release (\u201ca limited vinyl release will come later,\u201d Travers reveals), the band is already turning its attention to the future. \u201cWe start 2019 at home, and then we\u2019re going to Europe for a 40-date run in nine different countries,\u201d Travers says. \u201cWe\u2019re touring as a headliner; they\u2019ve got a Mercedes Sprinter waiting on us with all of our gear and a tour manager that can translate all the languages.\u201d The six-week tour will be the first time any of the band members have visited Europe. \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone in our band has ever left the country, so it\u2019s going to be quite an exhilarating experience,\u201d Travers says.<\/p>\n
The momentum isn\u2019t likely to subside. Once the whirlwind European tour is over, Travers Brothership comes back home to a schedule that includes a number of festival dates. Travers promises, \u201cwe\u2019re going to just bust it for the rest of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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