In 1988, Travis Bowlin was born in a little river town just off the Ohio River called Aurora, IN near Cincinnati, Ohio. He found his love for roots music at the age 11, when he starting singing for the honorable Cincinnati Boy Choir in Cincinnati Ohio. Performing at Cincinnati Music Hall and singing the nation anthem at Reds’ major league baseball games. He first discovered his joy for playing instruments at age 15 when he received his grandmother’s old acoustic guitar. Throughout his teenage years Travis was very heavily involved in his school’s music program in both band and choir. Through the school Travis was able to perform solo at Disney World twice, the Indianapolis 500, and Cedar Point (Winning outstanding performer). After high school Travis traveled his Tri-State of Ohio, Kentucky, & Indiana booking as many shows as he could to work on his craft.
It wasn’t until 2012 when Travis would sign his 1st independent record deal. This would change things for him, allowing him to learn more about the music business and taking him to Music City (Nashville, TN). On March 1, 2014 Travis released his 1st studio single “Bad, Bad Man”. “Bad, Bad Man” was featured on many radio station across the world and would land Travis and his band a performance spot on Nashville’s NBC News. 2014 would also bring Travis his first Master and Sync license and first global TV debut performing his original song “Traveling Man” on TLC’s show 19 Kids and Counting for the episode “A Duggar Leaves Home”. During this same time Travis released his 2nd studio single “Got the Goods” which got great notoriety in the Blues,Rock,Roots Music world and scored him a feature in L.A. based Rock n Roll industries Magazine.
2015 would be marked as a big year for Travis, now with 200-250 shows a year under his belt and some recent major product endorsements from such companies as Dean Guitar, Roto-Sound Strings, and Musicvox Guitars (see more here). Travis felt it was time to take things up a notch. He prepared to release his 3rd studio single “See You Again” hiring world-renowned Blues, Rock, & Roots publicist Betsie Brown of Blind Raccoon Publicity. On June 9th, 2015 “See You Again” was released along with Travis’ 1st full length official music video. “See You Again” climbed the charts reaching #5 on iTunes new Blues and coming in at #3 on the Roots Music Radio Report for Blues/Rock. For nearly 6 months “See You Again” charted as a Top 10 Top 20 song on Blues radio as well as getting on the 2016 entry ballot for possible Grammy Nomination in American Root Performance and American Roots Song. His music video was nominated for a Midwest Video Music Award and the RockErie Awards.
In 2018 Travis recorded and released his second studio album “Secundus” recorded in Nashville, TN at Mainframe recording studios. Travis wrote 11 of the 12 songs as well as produced the album. It was released July 13, 2018 debuting at #8 on radio for Blues/Rock on the Roots Music Report, reaching the #1 spot the week of July 28, 2018, and staying a top 25 Blues/Rock album for nearly 8 months after its release. 6 of the 12 songs off “Secundus” charted in the top 50 Blues/Rock singles, with “Strange Vibes” peaking at #1 & “Vicksburg Blues” peaking at #3. It reached the #2 spot of top selling Blues Albums on Amazon and #33 on iTunes. “Secundus” made it on the preliminary voting ballot for potential Grammy nomination for “Contemporary Blues Album” and “Vicksburg Blues” for “American Roots Performance”
For the next couple years Travis held a pretty heavy and long performance schedule performing nearly 5 nights a week after the success of his last album until the world stopped and things changed for a while, during the global pandemic Travis spent a lot of time live steaming performances on online platforms, writing new songs, and focusing on his other arts.
2022 was an amazing year for Bowlin, welcoming his son Riley into the world with his partner Blues guitarist/artist Meg Williams. He was awarded the Best Of Huntsville, AL for his singing and walked the stage of the Grand Ole Opry House to accept the Josie Music Award for Jazz/Blues Artist of the year (2022 & 2023). It was during this year when Travis decided it was time to give back. He established and organized the now annual “Travis Bowlin’s Cigar Box Guitar Music & Art Festival” benefiting Toys for Tots in Blue Ridge, GA seeing thousands of attendees each year.
Travis is currently gearing up to release his next Album “Hooks & Grooves” due out Fall 2024, touring, and performing at 3 weekly residencies – Every Thursday at Stellas elixir lounge (Huntsville AL), joining Meg Williams every Wednesday at Nashville’s top blues club Bourbon Street Blues & Boogie Bar, and Every Tuesday at Alley Taps in Printers Alley. He has performed in nearly 30 US states, Australia, and Iceland. He has performed at major events such as Clear Water Sea Blues Festival, Bayfront Blues Festival, Aurora Farmers Fair, National Cornbread Festival, Riverfront Nights, Texas River Fest, Queenscliff Music Festival, Venice Blues Festival, Grand Ole Opry House-Josie Awards, and He has headlined the Delta Dragon Riverboat Regatta, the Bendigo Blues and Roots Festival, and has shared the bill with Walter Trout, Ricky Skaggs, War, Little Freddie King, Cyrile Neville, John Mayall, Samantha Fish, Big Something, Eugene “Hideaway Bridges, Reverend Payton and Big Smo.
