By 1992 the man who once could not afford a demo had become a Grand Ole Opry member, a platinum selling star and one of the major new male voices of early 1990s country, all because a studio owner heard him during a few borrowed minutes and invited him back.
His rough edges were exactly the part Nashville eventually learned not to remove.
Travis Tritt married young, worked ordinary jobs around Georgia and played music whenever he could. By his early twenties two marriages had already ended and his parents still doubted country music could provide a living.
Tritt kept playing clubs anyway. Money was so tight he later remembered surviving on Vienna sausage sandwiches. Then in 1982 he wanted to enter a music contest but could not afford the studio time needed for a demo.
An Electrician Friend Opened An Unlikely Door
A friend found a way around it. The friend was an electrician wiring a studio owned by Danny Davenport, a Warner Bros. promotion man. Because he was working there he slipped Tritt inside for a few free minutes.
The deal was simple with a plan to record quickly and leave. Tritt cut three original songs, but Davenport heard him. Instead of throwing him out he invited him back.
One rushed session became several. Over the next few years they built recordings while Tritt continued working honky tonks and sharpening the mix of country, Southern rock and blues that would become his identity.
Eventually Davenport took the material to Warner Bros. in California. It reached the Nashville division, leading to a development arrangement and then a recording deal. Even then nothing was guaranteed. Trittโs early deal called for six recordings with three intended as singles and a full album depended on one proving itself.
Country Club Proved He Belonged
The first test was โCountry Clubโ released in 1989 and it reached the country Top 10. That was enough.
The album Country Club followed in 1990. โHelp Me Hold Onโ became Trittโs first No. 1, โIโm Gonna Be Somebodyโ reached No. 2 and the album eventually went platinum.
A year later Itโs All About to Change pushed him further. โAnymoreโ went No. 1, the album eventually reached triple platinum and Tritt became one of the major new male stars of early โ90s country.
Success did not erase what had made him different. Tritt kept the Southern rock edge, recorded with Marty Stuart and resisted becoming another interchangeable new country act.
By the time the Opry made him a member in 1992, the contest that required that cheap little demo no longer mattered. Danny Davenport had heard something more valuable in that unfinished studio and country music learned to listen because of those rough edges, not in spite of them.