Hi Travis. Firstly, please tell us a bit about the band, its timeline, and who plays what etc.
I met Jennifer (the bassplayer) in highschool about a year after we both started playing music, so we pretty much grew up together, musically speaking. After playing in different cover bands and with many different drummers we hooked up with Dale Moon around 1997 and really got serious about playing the music we loved. All of us were into progressive stuff, good songs and good melodies.

And hot on the heels of that came the gig with Ronnie Montrose, yes?
Yes, we got a call on the UFO Tour from the agent who booked us for Guitar Player Live (Guitar Player Magazine's music festival in CA) and he invited us to come play with Montrose! Ronnie is of course a guitar legend and even though we were on a break for the rest of the year, that show was too good to pass up. It ended up being the Saturday between the Thanksgiving holiday and my birthday. It turns out Ronnie's birthday was the day before mine, so it was quite a festive weekend.
The show was great. He hasn't been out playing in about three years as he's had some health issues, so people were really excited. The show was booked at one of the classic California theaters, was completely packed and Ronnie went out of his way to make sure we had a good time. He even helped out with our sound check, giving advice to the engineer, haha! We also saw a bunch of the same fans from the last time we were in Modesto - they were wearing their UFO shirts for us! We'd love to play with Montrose again
sometime when the opportunity presents itself.

You keep video tour diaries, which is a brilliant idea, with lots of footage from the shows and from the soundchecks, and also from backstage (including shots of the dressing room, with meat in various stages of decay - and I don't mean the band, haha).
How does it feel looking back on those times when the tour's over?
I think we keep tour diaries as much for ourselves as for the fans. Time goes by so fast on the road that you want a "scrap book" of some kind and it's always great to go back and check those things out from past tours. It helps you realize and remember your accomplishments, but then can also make you miss being on tour and seeing all your friends.
When you're on the road you miss home and vice versa. It's a never ending circle.

Sorry about this next question, but the Head Honcho Numero Uno Big Cheese at GRTRoll insisted that I ask it, so okay, here we go... Girl bassplayers - i.e. bassplayers that are girls... how far along the evolutionary scale are they? And do you foresee a time when they will actually rule the world?
Anyone who's seen TLB live already knows Jennifer rules our world! And aren't all women more highly developed than men? Haha! I think all musicians, regardless of gender, should only be measured by their musicianship and professionalism. We're lucky to have a bass player who can live up to the hype.

The Jeff Beck influence is very noticeable, and you've also cited Steve Morse, Rush and Steve Lukather as inspiration. Which have been the best gigs you've ever been to, and what made them so?
My favorite shows have usually been more intimate ones, club or theater gigs where you can really see what's going on. Jeff Beck played a small theater in Santa Barbara, California a couple years ago and that was one of the most amazing shows I've seen in recent times. It often has so much to do with the people at the show and you could feel the magic in that audience. That's one of the reasons Rush shows are so great. They don't play small venues, but everyone at a Rush show really "gets" the music and that connection is important to a great performance. Of course the band has to get them to that level, so it's a joint effort.

I love vocal bands and would even love to work with some great singers, but that would be a whole different animal. This band will always be what it is.

What's happening on the music scene in California these days? How easy is it to get gigs, etc.
I think it's similar everywhere these days. You have to play anywhere and everywhere if you want to play music and it can be difficult to find any venues until you've built a bit of a following. We got some good advice early on from a well known music manager when we told him there isn't much of a scene for instrumental bands in CA, he said "the scene is what you make it". That's really the truth. If you want to do something, you have to make it happen. Go out and find places to play and find your audience. We've played everywhere in the past decade, from garages to arenas. If it's what you believe in, you just do it.

What have been the proudest moments for the Travis Larson Band?
Well, there's many things that I would call "career accomplishments" - recording with heroes of ours like Steve Lukather and Victor Wooten or playing an arena with Ted Nugent. I think I'm most proud of the albums and music that we make and the fact that we've done everything with absolutely no label support or much help from anyone. From start to finish, our releases are all us. The new DVD was recently reviewed in a progressive music magazine and they also reviewed the new Jeff Beck DVD. Ours got a higher rating. Of course I'm not saying we're better than my biggest guitar hero of all time! It's a great feeling to know, however, that our project we put together with no budget and no big company can compete with something like that. I'm very proud of what we accomplish being completely independent. That said, it'd be nice to just play guitar sometimes, haha.

What's the rocknrolliest thing that's ever happened to you? And... any Spinal Tap moments?
One of the craziest stories we have is playing with Ted Nugent. The real story behind this is that he was originally going out with Lynyrd Skynyrd and just before the tour, their bass player passed away. For whatever reason, we ended up filling a spot opening for Nugent in a 15,000 seat arena. After years of playing dive bars and hearing people yell the standard quote, "Play Free Bird!", this was the ultimate "Play Free Bird" experience. I don't think any band on the planet has been through that old bar-and-pub heckle with the intensity and authenticity that we have, haha! In the end, we actually did borrow a bit of a Dixie Dregs instrumental version of Free Bird and got the whole place on their feet for the last song of our set.

Please give us a message for everyone who's reading this interview.
I'd like to thank those people who get out and support live music. It's an important thing to keep alive with all the other forms and availability of entertainment out there today. Nothing can or should replace live music, the show and the human experience.

The TRAVIS LARSON BAND website

© Get Ready To Roll - 2nd December 2009