Born and raised in Golden, Travis Pickering made the move to Calgary in the fall of 2019 to help advance his music career.
Making his name as a father-son duo, playing the local music circuit in town after returning from a stint in the U.S. to play baseball, Pickering quickly picked up a following in the East Kootenays prior to his departure.
“Golden is such a nurturing and accepting place when it comes to music, it just really opens the door and lets you in,” said Pickering.
“It really fostered my career, without this town I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Most recently, Pickering has been collaborating with Shelley Lynch, co-writing with her for her upcoming album.
Make It To Memphis, one of the singles of her four-song EP, was Nashville produced, a big deal for any aspiring country musician.
One of the singles, Dreams And Gasoline, that Pickering collaborated on, has peaked this past week at #2 on the Canadian Indie Country Countdown and is getting air time on CBC Radio.
The song is still climbing the charts in Nashville, according to Pickering.
“I’m excited to see where these two songs go,” said Pickering.
“You just really have to put in the work, there’s more that goes into this than just wanting to sing, you can’t limit yourself to one aspect of your career, but everyone has been supportive and wants to see each other succeed in the Canadian music scene.”
Pickering describes their sound as getting back to the roots of country, before the snap-clap and getting back to the Garth Brooks-era of ’90s country.
“There’s a divide in the genre right now and I don’t want to slag off new country, but I really want to make music that you can sink your teeth into,” said Pickering.
“It’s music to get you to feel something, I’m drawn to the singer-songwriter stuff, I want you to feel the lyrics and the beat.”
Pickering says that despite the challenges that COVID has presented, with struggles of getting together to rehearse and restrictions on live gigs, he says that it’s been a great time for him to advance his career.
“I’ve been able to make contacts and reach out to my peers and people I look up to the industry, of course I want things to open back up, but I’ve been able to put more work into the songwriting and networking at the same time,” said Pickering.
Once travel is back up and running, Pickering says he would like to consider making a return to the valley for a live gig in the town that raised him and nurtured his musical talent.
