Steve Travis is an English retired singer-songwriter, musician, recording artist and author. He was born and raised in Colchester, Essex. His biggest selling albums are in the easy listeningcountry style. More recently Travis has been known for sea shanties including "Billy O'Shea" that debuted in April 2021 on BBC Radio Essex[1] with fellow musician and "Wellerman" creator Nathan Evans.
Musical career
Rock and pop; 1964–1979
Travis began his music career in the mid 1960s as a drummer in Colchester bands performing progressive rock. In 1970, he made a switch to guitar and vocals and formed the glam-rock band, Plod. As a pop singer throughout the 1970s, he made many appearances alongside top acts including ELO, Genesis, Slade, Thin Lizzy,[2] and Showaddywaddy. He then went on to form the hard rock band, The Perishers. They attracted the interest of London-based management company Deville Promotions and quickly booked time in Polydor Studios in London and recorded four demo tracks. These were original rock songs written by Travis. At that time Travis bore a likeness to Marc Bolan and his photograph appeared next to the late T. Rex frontman in national newspapers in 1979.[citation needed]
Country; 1981–2004
Travis moved on to country music issuing a single in 1982 entitled "Ghost Riders in the Sky" / "Moonlight on the Trail". This received excellent reviews in many of the music papers.[citation needed] For some years Travis retreated completely from the music business to concentrate on family life.
In 1991, Travis returned to performing country music and toured in the UK and Europe topping the bill at many CMC clubs, festivals and theatres.[citation needed] In 1994, he released his first CD album on the MJMusic record label, later signing a record deal with the Irish label Foam Records in 1997. His first album, 50 Country & Favourite Songs, a sing-along album in the style of Max Bygraves, sold over 100,000 copies and achieved a silver disc for sales. Travis released a further 14 albums[3] on the Foam label then continued his career with London-based Prism Leisure in 2003.
Contemporary; 2004–2010
In 2004, Travis composed and played keyboards on an album of relaxation music titled Healing Shores released on the Aquavision label. Following this an album of his narrated poetry set to music entitled Fragments of Desire was released on the Blue Water music label, taken from the book of the same name.
Sea shanties; 2010–present
With an increasing enthusiasm for sea shanties and inspiration from his longtime home by the sea in West Mersea there came a change of musical style.[4] In 2012, H&H Music released Travis' first shanty album, Shanties and Other Songs of the Sea and a music video for his song "The Black Water Smuggler",[5] reflects the history of the Blackwater Estuary. It was followed in 2016 by Sea Shanties and Pirate Songs.[6]
