Travis Dow

With four solo albums of original material under his belt, a charting single with his first band, Cal Hollow, and songs that have put the Northwest's The Concrete Cowboys on the map, Travis Dow is equally at home writing intricate pop melodies and country story-songs. From San Francisco to Nashville to Chicago to Portland, Oregon, Travis has found songwriting success at every stop. Chicago found him serving as guitarist/vocalist for rising piano-pop star Katie Todd. That group had the honor of opening for the likes of The Wallflowers, Jewel, Steve Winwood, Five For Fighting, and Pete Yorn, as well as performing at the legendary Lollapalooza festival in 2006. Travis now lives and performs in Portland, Oregon, where he writes and plays guitar for Oregon's number one country band The Concrete Cowboys, Winners of the 2010 Portland Music Award for Outstanding Achievement in Country Music. The Concrete Cowboys have shared the stage with Emerson Drive, Chuck Wicks, Lee Brice, Justin Moore, and Andy Griggs, just to name a few.

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Travis attended Humboldt State University, where he played in several bands before forming Cal Hollow in San Francisco in 1997. The band's first album, Two Bulb Twilight, on Jericho/Sire Records, was helmed by Grammy-winning Producer John Porter (The Smiths, B.B. King), and included the Dow-penned single "No Mercy", which generated substantial airplay both in the U.S. and abroad.

Winner of several songwriting contests, Travis performs yearly at the Folk Alliance Festival in cities across the US and Canada. Whether writing with piano, acoustic guitar or electric guitar in hand, he manages to merge honest, meaningful lyrics with everything from catchy, rootsy pop to traditional country ballads. 2010 will signal an exciting move back to Nashville to write and play with the best in the business, and new management by Valley Arts Guitar pioneer Al Carness.

A few career highlights thus far:

- Debut album (with Cal Hollow), Two Bulb Twilight, was released in May '99 and was produced by 4-time Grammy Award winner John Porter (The Smiths, B.B. King, Keb Mo', Bonnie Raitt) on Jericho/Sire Records.

- Wrote and produced 2 albums, Hard Country (2008), and Next (2009), for prominent Portland, Oregon Country band The Concrete Cowboys, Winners of 2010 Portland Music Award for Outstanding Achievement in Country Music.

- Appeared on three Katie Todd Band albums, produced by Blaise Barton (Bob Dylan, Liz Phair).

- Has written, produced and toured behind four successful solo albums, 100% Handmade (2003), Someone's Awake (2005), Travis Dow Band (2006), and Back To Nowhere (2006).

- Solo performances at notable venues such as Nashville's Bluebird Cafe, House of Blues Chicago, and the yearly Folk Alliance Festival.