Travis Tritt to Release Live Acoustic Album “A Man and His Guitar”
For years Travis Tritt has been touring the country playing acoustic shows, and the naked context of his music has done nothing but elevate his legacy in the minds of those who’ve attended. Nothing against seeing Tritt with his band, but it takes something special in an artist to take the stage with nothing more than a stool, a guitar, and a water bottle, and entertain a large crowd. Those who slotted Tritt as a product of his time, and tough to remember beyond hits like “Here’s A Quarter” and “T-R-O-U-B-L-E” walked away as new Tritt devotees.
The owner of seven platinum records has also made news by criticizing the current direction of country, and specifically has spoken out at his acoustic shows. One of the mainstays of the performances is the song “Country Ain’t Country,” which he changed to include criticism of CMT, and Tritt once called out Brantley Gilbert for disrespecting his country elders.
Tritt was also critical of how creatively limiting the mainstream country industry can be in an interview with The Tennessean back in 2014, saying in part, “What we get is a cookie-cutter mentality that isn’t good for artists who are having to portray themselves as something they aren’t, or that are capable of doing so much more but are being stifled.”
Those comments were made right before Tritt was scheduled to take the stage at the historic Franklin Theatre in Franklin, TN to record a CD and DVD that will be released on November 15th. Called A Man and His Guitar, it contains 24 songs, including unreleased renditions of “Come And Go Blues” and “Pickin’ At It,” and appearances by long-time friend Marty Stuart, and James Otto. Along with the songs, the collection also includes plenty of stories and anecdotes that Tritt’s acoustic shows have come to be known for.
TRACK LIST:
Disc 1
1. “It’s All About the Money” (Donny Kees, Jody Harris)
2. “Where Corn Don’t Grow” (Mark Alan Springer, Roger Murrah)
3. “The Pressure Is On” (Hank Williams, Jr.)
4. “I’m Gonna Be Somebody” (Jill Colucci, Stewart Harris)
5. “Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man” [with James Otto] (Kostas)
6. “Country Club” (Catesby Jones, Dennis Lord)
7. “Country Ain’t Country” (Carson Chamberlain, Casey Beatherd, Teresa Boaz)
8. “500 Miles Away From Home” (Bobby Bare, Charles Williams, Hedy West)
9. “Here’s a Quarter” (Travis Tritt)
10. “Best of Intentions” (Travis Tritt)
11. “Drift Off to Dream” (Travis Tritt, Stewart Harris)
12. “Help Me Hold On” (Travis Tritt, Pat Terry)
Disc 2
1. “Whiskey Ain’t Workin’” [with Marty Stuart] (Ronny Scaife, Marty Stuart)
2. “Pickin’ at It” [with Marty Stuart] (Travis Tritt)
3. “Come and Go Blues” (Gregg Allman)
4. “Anymore” (Travis Tritt, Jill Colucci)
5. “I Walk the Line” (Johnny Cash)
6. “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” (Waylon Jennings)
7. “A Long Time Ago” (Waylon Jennings, Shel Silverstein)
8. “Mama’s Don’t Let Your Babies Grown Up to Be Cowboys” (Patsy Bruce, Ed Bruce)
9. “Lone Wolf” (Hank Williams, Jr.)
10. “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive” (Darrell Scott)
11. “T-R-O-U-B-L-E” (Jerry Chestnut)
12. “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” (Walt Aldridge, James LeBlanc)
October 31, 2016 @ 7:22 pm
Hell yeah
October 31, 2016 @ 7:34 pm
With a voice as unique , as big and as recognizable as TT’s and his passion-filled delivery of a lyric ..” we don’t need no steenkeen band “…
October 31, 2016 @ 7:53 pm
This is going to be great
October 31, 2016 @ 8:19 pm
I saw Travis Tritt three days ago at Coyote Joe’s in Charlotte, and it was a fantastic show. The venue was at full capacity, and there was a healthy number of twenty-somethings and early thirties in the audience, which means that Tritt is attracting folks who were kids (like myself) in his heyday. Even though the show included his full band, the middle of the show was just himself and his acoustic guitar. During this acoustic set, he played his #1 hit ballads, “Help Me Hold On,” “Anymore,” “Can I Trust You With My Heart,” and “Foolish Pride” — if I remember correctly. It was beautiful, but it was also great to have the full band for the rest of the set. Obviously, songs like “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” “It’s a Great Day…,” and “Country Club” are best with the band. It was a nice touch when he covered Waylon’s “Lonesome, On’ry, and Mean” and “I’ve Always Been Crazy.”
November 6, 2016 @ 9:04 pm
Nice to see “Foolish Pride” on the set list here….it didn’t make the album, apparently. It would be a hard song to sing with just a guitar for support, but if anyone could pull it off, Travis Tritt could.
October 31, 2016 @ 8:30 pm
This sounds like it’ll kick ass. Is it going to be released on the big black circle?
(And is he going to rant about politics or just make music? I can’t stand when a singer I want to hear spouts his political views in a concert)
October 31, 2016 @ 8:57 pm
i grew up on travis tritt’s music and still love it to this day so i’ll have to seek this out and give it a listen.
and the fact that it’s acoustic makes me all the more excited, there’s a video out there on youtube i found of travis doing an acoustic version of anymore at some awards show that he was apparently asked to play at the last minute (he said in an interview he filled in for garth who was unable to make the show) and was requested to play anymore which had just gone to number one with just him and his guitar and it turned out really great i hope it sounds just as good on the album.
November 1, 2016 @ 2:40 am
Dwight showed it could be done, so why not?
November 1, 2016 @ 3:10 am
Maybe this will help him make his payroll on time.
November 1, 2016 @ 5:53 am
Well, there goes my lunch money.
November 1, 2016 @ 6:46 am
No “It’s A Great Day To Be Alive”?
November 1, 2016 @ 6:49 am
It’s track 10 on the second disc.
Looking forward to this one.
November 1, 2016 @ 7:59 am
Oops. Missed it.
November 1, 2016 @ 6:52 am
I think the hardest thing to do as a musician is to get up in front of a crowd with just a guitar. There’s nowhere to hide. All eyes are on you. To play two or three songs that way is tough enough, but to do a whole show that way, to pace it and keep it from getting boring, takes real talent and guts.
November 1, 2016 @ 12:03 pm
He has also resurrected “Outlaws Like Us” and does that acoustically. I wish it was on this album. At the concert I went to he called out Luke Bryan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-lSpVSEaWw
November 2, 2016 @ 2:53 am
I was going to see him last winter but unfortunately the weather and bad driving conditions led to him being unable to make the drive from Oregon to AZ, this will definitely help fill the void until he makes it back out here.
November 2, 2016 @ 1:23 pm
Cant wait travis is one the best!!!
November 3, 2016 @ 1:25 am
The career implosions of two of the biggest ’90s country stars–Clint Black and Travis Tritt–are hard to fathom.They’re both super talented and had multiplatinum albums in the ’90s, but they’ve been like semi-retired, Marty Stuart was releasing an album a year; Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard–heck, even Gene Watson–were regularly issuing new material in the 2000’s and 2010’s–but getting something new out of Black or Tritt is like pulling teeth. At least Clint did come out with the all new “On Purpose” this year–His first in 10 YEARS! For Travis, it’s something like 8 years since “The Storm”–though he’s had a few rehashes in the interim. I know that they had some problems with failing record labels, but that’s hardly an explanation. Just about every artist has label problems, but they keep producing.
November 3, 2016 @ 8:49 am
I saw Travis Tritt in concert two years ago. It was a fantastic performance with a full band. In the middle of the show, he dismissed the band and sat on a stool with his acoustic guitar and played several of his classic songs to the audience. It was incredible! Tritt mentioned that he planned to record and release an acoustic album, and, since then, I’ve been waiting for this announcement. Having a DVD is a big bonus! This CD/DVD is on top of my purchase list. Cheers and Twangs!
November 4, 2016 @ 3:03 am
Oh neat… I’mma have to check this out. I’ve heard him live about 3 or 4 times with his full band. Back in the 90s… if you like his songs, you should totally check him out live. Would love to catch the acoustic show tho’.
November 4, 2016 @ 7:45 am
I’ve seen him on the Birchmere schedule at least a couple of times. Solo acoustic. Have thought about going, but whatever reason didn’t. Not prohibitive ticket price either. Maybe next time, if he comes around again. Pretty sure I’ll pick this one up, though.
November 4, 2016 @ 10:23 pm
Saw him live about a year ago I guess, on his solo acoustic tour. It was a great show, he did tend to get a little talkative though. Not just about the current state of country music, but just as a whole. He did impress me with his guitar picking skills, as he did a self composed instrumental too.
November 5, 2016 @ 11:07 am
No doubt this will be great. I love acoustic gigs. I seek them out especially in good listening rooms. Jerry Jeff Walker has an acoustic DVD out and it is wonderful. I will pick TT’s up for sure.
November 6, 2016 @ 1:44 pm
Sounds like a winner! Will it be in Walmart stores?