Chart-topping star Travis Tritt knows a thing or two about the stuff of country music. Born in Georgia, he started playing guitar at 3, was writing songs before he finished high school and was twice divorced (one of those from a Hooters waitress) by the tender age of 22.
Likely a dog ran off and a pickup truck broke down somewhere along that timeline — though since his debut album (the 1989 self-titled release) spawned five singles and a number one hit, this country-fried singer has experienced little which could constitute the blues.
Still, two decades of twangy successes (including induction into the Grand Ole Opry, an on-screen role in The Blues Brothers 2000, two Grammys — most recently for the 1998 hit “Same Old Train” — and numerous CMA awards) hasn’t stopped the “Honky Tonkin’s What I Do Best” singer from trying his hand at a little blue-eyed soul.
Tritt’s 2007 studio album, The Storm, produced by American Idol personality Randy Jackson, plays on the artist’s blues sensibilities, as well as his gospel and Southern-rock roots. The first single, “You Never Take Me Dancing,” was penned by adult contemporary mainstay Richard Marx and opens with the sort of grit, growl and wah-wah expected of funk performers.
Today’s country is underscored by cross-over potential. Armed with rocker hair and designer jeans, Nashville’s young lions are proving they can hold their own in pop arenas as well as on the state fair circuit.
Tritt, though, is 44 — and he never strays too far from familiar territory. Songs like “(I Wanna) Feel Too Much” offer that spiritually tinged balladry that fans count on to offset the honky-tonkin’ swagger of “Doesn’t the Good Outweigh the Bad.” The new album runs that gamut effortlessly.
However, The Storm didn’t arrive without its share of drama. Shortly following the record’s release, the musician sued his label over a discrepancy involving royalty payments and creative control. That aside, Storm seems indicative of a new direction in Tritt’s career. This spring he teamed up with Bon Jovi’s Ritchie Sambora and soulful pop vocalist Lucy Woodward on the song “Willing to Try,” one of the tracks on Jackson’s Randy Jackson’s Music Club, Vol. 1 (which also features Mariah Carey, Paula Abdul, Rich of Big & Rich and Nickel Creek’s Sara Watkins).
It’s further proof that pop and country are closer than ever — and that Tritt’s own star power is far from fading.
Travis Tritt plays the U.S. Cellular Celebration Stage at Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Gates open at 6 p.m.; the show starts at 7 p.m. Steve Azar opens. Tickets are $20/advance, $25 at the festival (price includes free shuttle service from the French Broad Food Co-op).
