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Pat Travers | |
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.jpg) Travers performing in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Patrick Henry Travers |
| Born | (1954-04-12)April 12, 1954 (age 70) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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| Years active | 1970–present |
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| Website | pattravers |
Patrick Henry Travers (born April 12, 1954) is a Canadian rock guitarist, singer and songwriter who began his recording career in the mid-1970s.[2]
Travers was born and raised inToronto.[3] Soon after picking up the guitar at age 12, he sawJimi Hendrix perform inOttawa. Travers began playing in bands early in his teens; his first bands were the Music Machine (not to be confused withthe Californian psychedelic/garage band of the same name), Red Hot, and Merge, which played in clubs in theQuebec area.
While performing with Merge, he was noticed by rock artistRonnie Hawkins, who invited Travers to perform with him. In his early twenties, Travers moved to London and signed a recording contract with thePolydor label.[2] His self-titled debut album was released in 1976 and featured bassistPeter "Mars" Cowling, who was a mainstay in Travers' band for several years.[2] An appearance on the German TV showRockpalast in November 1976 was later released on CD+DVD under the titleLive at Rockpalast – Cologne 1976 in 2017. This performance showcases an early version of Travers' band featuring Cowling and drummerNicko McBrain.[2]
During 1977, Travers added a second guitarist to his band, changed drummers twice including usingClive Edwards, and by the timeHeat in the Street was released in 1978 had put together thePat Travers Band.[2] This grouping featured Travers on vocals and guitar,Pat Thrall on guitar, Cowling on bass, andTommy Aldridge on drums and percussion.[2] The band toured heavily, also supportingRush on theirDrive til You Die tour in support ofA Farewell to Kings.[4]
The guitar Travers most often appeared with on stage and on album covers in the band's early years was a 1964/65 model double cutaway, doublehumbucker pick-up Gibson Melody Maker. The band's next release was a live album entitledLive! Go for What You Know, which charted in the Top 40 in the United States and included the tune "Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)" (originally recorded byLittle Walter, credited to Stan Lewis), which climbed even higher on the charts, entering the Top 20. "Snortin' Whiskey" was a major American radio hit from 1980'sCrash and Burn.
After an appearance before 35,000 people at theReading Music Festival in England, both Thrall and Aldridge announced they were leaving the band to pursue other projects.[2] Travers and Cowling teamed up with drummerSandy Gennaro and releasedRadio Active[2] that same year. A co-headlining tour withRainbow followed, and the two bands performed in major arenas across North America. Although the tour was Travers' most successful road outing, theRadio Active album barely made it into the Top 40, reaching only number 37.[5]
It was very different from Travers' previous work, with more emphasis on keyboards than heavy guitars. Disappointed with the lack of sales,Polydor dropped Travers from their roster, and he in turn sued the record company on grounds that he was under contract with them to record more material. He won the lawsuit, and was able to releaseBlack Pearl in 1982.
This release also featured more mainstream music rather than the hard-driving rock Travers had recorded earlier, and included the hit single "I La La La Love You", featured prominently on mainstream Top 40 and album oriented rock stations, and in the 1983 filmValley Girl.Hot Shot was Travers' last major label release of original music, and was a return to a harder-edge style of rock than his previous two albums had been. One of Travers' best-recorded projects, it went basically unnoticed and is best remembered for the single "Killer". It was during this time that Travers also releasedJust Another Killer Day, a 30-minute home video featuring music fromHot Shot that was asci-fi type short story about sexy alien women searching for information on music here on earth. In 1984, Travers was again supporting Rush.Alex Lifeson is one of Travers' many admirers.[6]
Before the release ofHot Shot, longtime bassist Cowling left the band, and Travers would work with several different bassists including Cliff Jordan and Donni Hughes until Cowling's return in 1989.Jerry Riggs, who had joined the Pat Travers Band in 1983, helped Travers create a guitar team that fans considered difficult to rival.[7] AfterHot Shot's release in 1984,Polydor made plans to issue a greatest hits package, and then ended their relationship with Travers.
The latter half of the 1980s were quite gruelling for Travers. Having entered the decade at the top of the music game, he found himself in 1986 without a record contract and being forced to earn a living once again playing nightclubs and touring constantly. By 1990, he had gained a deal with a small European label and releasedSchool of Hard Knocks.[2] The project was completely ignored by radio. A full-length concert video,Boom Boom – Live at the Diamond Club 1990, was shot in Toronto, to be released on CD asBoom Boom next year, but Travers was still not able to return to the success he had ten years earlier, working only on indie labels, as with Lemon Recordings.
Shortly after, Travers signed a deal with U.S.-based Blues Bureau International Records, a company formed by producerMike Varney. Travers' first recording for the label wasBlues Tracks, released in 1992.[2] Several more releases on the BBI label followed during the 1990s. In 1993, Travers parted company with both Jerry Riggs and Peter "Mars" Cowling, and Riggs was briefly replaced by formerFoghat guitarist Erik Cartwright. The relationship was brief, and Travers has worked with a variety of musicians since that time. Travers sang on Boston metal bandExtreme's song "Get the Funk Out" from their 1990 albumPornograffitti.
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Travers has not been able to regain the level of commercial success he once had, despite a large and loyal fan base who call themselves "Hammer Heads". In 2001, Travers was part of the "Voices of Classic Rock" tour and had a minor hit withLeslie West from the bandMountain called "Rock Forever". In 2004, Travers started a project with veteran drummerCarmine Appice and started touring the U.S. Travers recorded cover tunes from bands such asLed Zeppelin,Montrose,Queen, andTrapeze under the album nameP.T. Power Trio 2, and they toured Europe in November 2006. He has also performed with the bandScrap Metal.
2008 to 2016 featured one of the longest/most consistent line-ups for the Pat Travers Band. Joining Travers was Kirk McKim (2006–2015; guitar/vocals), Sean Shannon (2008–2010; drums), followed by Sandy Gennaro (2010–2016), and Rodney O'Quinn (2007–2016; bass/vocals). The band released the albumFidelis in late 2009. In July 2013, they releasedCan Do via Frontiers Records, a major label based in Italy.Can Do was supported by PTB tours of the U.S., the UK, and Europe during the later half of 2013. In January 2015, Frontiers Records releasedLive at the Iridium NYC, recorded in February 2012.
Pat Thrall,Nicko McBrain,Clive Edwards,Mick Dyche,Tommy Aldridge,Peter "Mars" Cowling,Barry Dunaway,Jerry Riggs, Gunter Nezhoda,Carmine Appice,Michael Shrieve,Aynsley Dunbar, Kirk McKim,Sandy Gennaro, Rodney O'Quinn, Sean Shannon, Frank McDaniel, David LaRue, Eric Fretas, and Rick Navarro are some of the noted musicians who have been members of thePat Travers Band through the years.
As of 2021, the band consists of Travers (guitars, vocals), Alex Petrosky (drums) andDavid Pastorius (bass).[8]
Paul Gilbert has referred to Travers as a "guitar god",[9] andKirk Hammett ofMetallica has cited him as one of his favourite guitar players.[10]
"Rage of Travers", the ninth track onThe Mountain Goats' 2017 albumGoths, retells an incident in which Travers—on tour in 1982 or 1983—showed up, guitar in hand and looking to jam, at aBauhaus concert after his own gig ended. The chorus, "Nobody wants to hear the 12-bar blues/from a guy in platform shoes", highlights the speed with which the commercial landscape of rock changed in the early 1980s, especially asMTV promoted more visually distinctive acts.[11]
In the 2004 movieSideways, the song "Snortin' Whiskey" is playing as Miles tries to recover Jack's wallet.
In the 1983 movieValley Girl, the song "I La La La Love You" is playing when Randy, Julie, Fred and Stacey leave the party and head to Hollywood.
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