Travis Dow: What They Say

Winner - Outstanding Achievement in Country Music (with Concrete Cowboys)

"Pure pop, infused with folk, country, and even a bit of jazz...but the singing is what puts it all over the top."

"Cannily walks the line between substance and commercial appeal, and does so quite fetchingly."

4 Stars...A very interesting and pretty unique singer/songwriter style of rock.

"Seeing Katie Todd play a duo with guitar man Travis Dow is close to a religious experience."

Travis Dow is a multi-faceted singer/songwriter who has clearly seen enough of life to write about it well; he's spent time in San Francisco, Nashville, Chicago, and now calls Portland home. His latest release, Back to Nowhere, is as varied in style and influence as his address history. Ultimately, Dow's music settles him comfortably into the talented acoustic folk-pop realm.

The album kicks off with "Lonesome Day," a laid back acoustic tune with a little bit of a gospel-ly lift to it, except it retains of purity of "depressing folk song" in theme ... "leave the light on, it's a lonesome day." We've all been there; Travis sings like he knows it. "Certainty" is a mellow track with a nice, jangly, almost sitar-like 12 string sound and a haunting melody ... cello accents bring it all together. The words are sparse: "I know the sun will rise; I don't need a reason." Simple and beautiful.

"2nd Sunday" is reminiscent of Five for Fighting, Josh Kelley or some other Top 40 oriented sound. Dow's voice is on par with any of those comparisons and contains the key qualities of professionalism and intimacy not always found together these days.

Overall, Back to Nowhere is a rich, textured album that crosses genres but in a way that does not make you think "what the heck did I just hear?" Back to Nowhere gives the impression that Travis Dow could do a full album of any of the genres his music intercepts, and it would be great.

Piano-led Band is All About the Guitar: The Katie Todd Band's Make Some Time for Wasting

It’s the guitar licks from Travis Dow that really make Katie Todd’s songs smolder with a blues on the rock side of country. Just listen how Make Some Time for Wasting (2005) opens with “Face Down” and Dow’s restrained-but-driving hooks. Of course, Todd’s voice does a fine job at creating that atmosphere, too, especially as she hits the high point cry of the bridge.

Further into the album by the Katie Todd Band, it still comes back to Dow’s licks. Todd plays keys, but they seem a bit lost in the mix (an acoustic piano may have jumped out more). “Leave” bounces on a BoDeans-like lick, while “Kweller” has a coy little blues slide.

It takes a track like “In and Around” to finally hear how the lick grows from Todd’s keys. Even as Dow’s guitar builds the lick, it begins with the piano jaunt structure of the song. This is the same with “Player,” a piano jam layered with plenty of electric guitar buzz.

It’s the wrong scene, but the band’s combined drive on “Oz” makes you want to pogo. While not skate punks, and while this song is much more restrained than that, the rhythm and attitude makes raising a fist among the bouncing crowd just seem right.