In 2000, Portland-based record label Cornmeal Records released its first “Greetings From Area Code 207,” a compilation of the best music from Maine bands. Since then, the label has released seven such volumes. The eighth volume in the series comes out Nov. 18, and this year it features two discs of songs from 31 bands and artists ...
Travis James Humphrey
www.travisjameshumphrey.com
You may have seen this Houlton native in venues all over the state — he’ll play at Hollywood Slots in Bangor on Nov. 12 and 13 — so if you’ve seen him live, you know he’s a powerhouse. It’s rollicking, good-time country music that’s equal parts Brad Paisley and Garth Brooks, with just a dash of Jimmy Buffett thrown in for good measure. His song on “207” is a spot-on cover of Dick Curless’ Maine country classic “Tombstone Every Mile,” off his album, “Dirty Beautiful World,” which was recorded with fellow Maine country phenom Johnny Hiland. Maine country fans simply have to check him out ...
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Travis James Humphrey: Press
Is there a more divisive genre today than country? In other parts of America, the honky tonk is as holy as Sunday morning. If your gal leaves the bar with another cowboy, go ahead and sob into that Bud Light. Family reunions are cordial affairs, even if that Jack bottle is tipped one too many times. Travis James Humphrey, a 1995 graduate of Houlton High School, has the musical heart of a Southerner and shows it in “Dirty Beautiful World,” recorded in Nashville.
There was a time when this stuff ruled the land. Remember when Garth Brooks was selling like MJ? Then, at some point, the yuppies in the Northeast turned up their noses to what they perceived as simplistic lyrics and outdated traditions. An anger started a'percolatin' in the Heartland, and bootclad giants like Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith took brash ownership of these hardened attitudes. To hell with them Yankees, they'll never understand. In the heart of the culture war, enter a Mainer outta Houlton with a soul straight out of Nashville.
Travis James Humphrey doesn't just have a fantastic record on his hands with his latest, "Dirty Beautiful World," he's also offering an olive branch between two alienated groups of Americans. That's right, a Mainer made a record in Nashville with a T-Bone Burnett bounce, and an honest, pure sound that anybody'd call their own. It starts with Humphrey's voice -- a timbre you trust right away. He's got a big enough gift, and enough confidence in his delivery that he never has to force. Check the back beat "New Day" to hear a singer in the cut.
Once you add producer Johnny Hiland's spot-on guitar work (fireworks in "Back End of the Rainbow"), which is at once understated and virtuosic, and you have a record that reminds everyone why country ever appealed to them in the first place. It has fun first, there's a smile on its face from beginning to end. And this coming from one of them yuppie Yankees.
At the end of the day, the crucial litmus test is "would you have fun at the show?" Damn it all, throw me that Stetson. I'm going to the rodeo.
HOULTON, Maine — A Houlton native who has reached audiences across the world will bring his music to Aroostook County this weekend for an event that will benefit more than just listeners.
Travis James Humphrey, a 1995 Houlton High School graduate, will celebrate the release of a 10-song collection CD “Dirty Beautiful World,” from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, May 16, at a party with Northern Musical Supply as host on Calais Road in Houlton.
The fete also marks the third time that Humphrey has donated the first $500 of revenue from the sale of one of his CDs to benefit the Houlton Humane Society.
This is Humphrey’s third CD. His debut solo CD, “Yellow Cat Blues,” was released in 2002, and “Cowgirl Romance” was released in 2006.
Humphrey got his start at age 11 when he joined the American Boy Choir School, a national touring choir. He traveled across the country with the group for two years before returning to Houlton when he was 13 to join his father, Tim Humphrey, to play old rock ’n’ roll and country tunes in bars and other locations in the region.
After high school, he joined the military, playing in the Air Force Band for eight years as lead singer and guitarist for Silver Wings, a country-rock band. He traveled all over the United States and Europe with the band, returning to Maine around 2002 after singing as far away as Belize.
Humphrey, the newest recording artist to represent Nashville-based Pickers Pride Records, teamed with Woodland native and Nashville guitarist Johnny Hiland as well as Nashville Ninja Management to create “Dirty Beautiful World.” The project was mastered by Grammy Award winner Richard Dodd, produced by Hiland, and all songs, with the exception of “Tombstone Every Mile” and lead vocals were provided by Humphrey. Hiland, a 1993 Woodland High School graduate, also performs guitar, bass and keyboard on the CD.
The Gorham-based singer-songwriter acknowledged Thursday that “Dirty Beautiful World” is different from his past CDs. Songs on the CD include the title track and songs such as “Back End of the Rainbow,” “When We’re Drinking” and “New Day.”
“My first two albums were a bit more independently produced,” he said. “They were where I was at, at the time. I met Johnny [Hiland] last fall, and he wanted to produce my next record. He had a vision for the CD, so I gave him all of my new songs and went out to Nashville. I recorded the CD there and laid down all of the vocals in one night.”
Humphrey classified his newest work as a “pretty straight-ahead country rock” CD.
Donation to animal shelter
“I got into the habit of giving the first $500 generated from every album to the shelter, and I just stuck with it,” he said Thursday. “They do a lot of great work, and I can’t volunteer there anymore, so giving them this money is how I am helping them.”
Humphrey said he volunteered at the shelter a lot while growing up, and his mother, Doreen Humphrey, remains active there.
The Houlton Humane Society operates the Houlton Animal Shelter. The humane society is a nonprofit corporation that offers care and adoption services for stray and abandoned animals in southern Aroostook County.
The shelter provides a home, food and medical care for abandoned and neglected animals while preparing them for adoption. It contracts with approximately 19 towns that pay for its services, but the bulk of its operational money comes from fundraisers.
“The humane society operates on a shoestring, and the staff does a very fine job of caring for the animals, so I just want to help,” Humphrey said. “I’m not financially wealthy, but I have been very fortunate, and it is our responsibility to look after our animals. I also believe if you send out good energy, it will come back to you. I want to offer something back to the community that supported me.”
CD release party Sunday
The Sunday outdoor event is free and will feature hot dogs, popcorn, beverages, desserts and a concert.
“It’s going to be acoustic, just me and my guitar,” said Humphrey. “I am going to sing all of the songs on the album and then play the album for people so they can see what the end result sounds like.”
Humphrey held a release party for his CD at Champions Sports Bar in Biddeford on May 10. Another party is planned from 5 to 7 tonight at Dogfish Bar and Grille in Portland.
A $50 gift certificate to Northern Musical Supply will be raffled at the end of the Houlton release party, and CDs will be available for sale.
“Dirty Beautiful World” is available for sale online as a CD or through download at CD Baby and iTunes. It also is available at Northern Musical Supply and Hollywood Slots in Bangor.
For information, go to www.travisjameshumphrey.com.
How boys who grew up a few miles from each other in the County wound up making a record together in Nashville is one of those vagaries of the music business that will never make sense. But you add up Travis James Humphrey’s killer country-twang vocals and Johnny Hiland’s ripping guitar solos and you get yourself a pretty dang listenable pop country album in Dirty Beautiful World, Humphrey’s third solo release.
Hopefully, you know Hiland’s story — a blind kid out of Woodland, Maine, who was playing guitar professionally by age 8 and is now a respected and in-demand session musician in Nashville. Maybe you don’t know Humphrey’s story. He was an American Boychoir School member as a kid, despite being from Houlton, singing backup for the likes of Aretha Franklin, and then found himself fronting the Air Force’s country band, Silver Wings, before getting out and striking up a solo career.
Now Hiland and Humphrey have come together on an album that’s about as pop-country as you can get, with up-beat tunes that just about conjure Humphrey’s smile floating in front of your eyeballs and ballads that are swimming in drinking references.
To be honest, after hearing the opening “Back End of the Rainbow,” I didn’t think I’d be able to finish the disc, let alone listen enough to actually review the thing. Among the opening lines? “The people are nice, and the only time you see ice is floating in your mo-ji-to.” He even does that Shania Twain, talking mid-song thing.
But Humphrey sings like nobody’s business and I was glad I made it to “New Day,” where he delivers a killer chorus and he walks the line between country and rock nicely. Plus, Hiland, who plays all of the instruments but drums here, is a house afire. Just about every tune has guitar work — either acoustic or electric — that makes you sit up and take notice.
It’s a genre piece, no doubt. The album contains all kinds of lines like “you like me, but you love Jack Daniel’s.” But if you have any inclination toward country whatsoever you pretty much have to pick this album up.