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Three hours after a recent meeting at an East Dallas coffee shop, singer-songwriter Travis Hopper sent an urgent e-mail. While driving home, he'd thought of a few things he'd meant to say, but didn't. "I have an amazing ability to figure out exactly what I want to say about an hour after I needed to say it," he wrote. "Which, come to think of it, is maybe why I write songs in the first place." It's funny because in a way, repeated plays of his debut album, All the Lights in the City Tonight, reveal almost everything you need to know about the guy: He's an endearingly fussy alt-country storyteller with a mind full of catchy melodies. But coffee talk with Mr. Hopper did help paint a picture of the experiences and relationships that spawned the 10 songs on All the Lights. After graduating from Texas A&M, the Houston native moved here with his girlfriend in 2001 and started a job at an advertising firm. He'd played guitar and written songs in college, but didn't feel he fit into Aggieland's music scene. He found Dallas to be much more welcoming, especially after spending a few evenings at the Barley House on North Henderson Avenue. "It was the place that helped me decide not to sell my guitar," he says. "I saw the band Trainwreck there when I first moved to town, and they were playing the kind of stuff I played in College Station that people didn't like." Mr. Hopper later landed a gig as a guitarist for a band called the Americanos. That lasted until the summer of 2003, when the band broke up. The timing couldn't have been worse, because he was also going through a split with the girlfriend he'd followed here. "It came crashing down on all fronts," he says. "It was a long summer, but it seemed like all my friends were coming unraveled at the same time. So we all got very close." Inspired by his and his friends' troubles, Mr. Hopper began fashioning musical tales of lost love, late-night walks and bar-stool blues. He wrote "Tietze Park" while strolling by the East Dallas landmark, after days of lamenting his broken relationship. "I'd Like to Have You Here (If You Want to Stay)" came from drinking away his sorrows at, you guessed it, the Barley House. Mr. Hopper's lyrics are strikingly literal, but the small geographic and chronological details don't lessen the songs' universal appeal. That's probably why respected local artist Salim Nourallah agreed to record and mix them at his home studio, Pleasantry Lane. "There was something about the production of Salim's Polaroid CD that I liked, clean drums that actually sound like drums," Mr. Hopper says. "So I basically accosted him at Sons of Hermann Hall one night. ... He ended up liking my songs enough to want to do the album." The two artists found an immediate musical bond while recording, in late 2004 and early 2005. Mr. Nourallah helped Mr. Hopper overcome longtime insecurities about his high, trembly singing voice. "At first I wasn't letting my voice be what it was, but we ended up pushing the vocals more to the front, without much reverb or echo," he says. "We had become close enough that I didn't feel like I was singing in front of a stranger." Mr. Nourallah's production style is well-suited for such artists as Mr. Hopper, because the words and melodies are never compromised by too many studio bells and whistles. But it's not just the immediate accessibility of Mr. Hopper's music that draws us in. A Dallas artist in the truest sense, he writes and sings about the city that surrounds him. He's as much a journalist as he is a musician. And in this scene, that's refreshing. In that follow-up e-mail he sent, Mr. Hopper says he felt the need to explain further why he'd named the music of Motown as his biggest influence: "The thing I like about Motown ... is that the songs are just about every day, and while they sound deceptively simple, they're all about detail." Amen to that.
Dallas Morning News --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recorded and mixed at Pleasantry Lane Studios, Dallas, TX
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"A collection of well-crafted, country-tinged pop gems."
"A little bit country, a little bit indie rock, which to us is the
perfect mix...get wise to him."
"An endearingly fussy alt-country storyteller with a mind full of catchy
melodies...a Dallas artist in the truest sense."
"...A cross between Ryan Adams and Elliot Smith...great songwriter and
amazing sound."
"A ragged, sloppy pop charmer from Texas...like its came from a session
in the Westerberg basement [where] Ryan Adams and Tommy Keene showed up
and everyone got laughing drunk."
"...Ten beautiful and catchy songs that breath out authenticity,
freshness, and emotion...without a doubt one of the greatest albums of
this year."
"...Wonderfully sunset-hued songcraft and lazy Sunday afternoons on the
porch with a beer sounds."
"Stunning...it's not too often you hear a 10-track album and fall for
each track on first listen. An assured a debut as I've heard...right now
it's going to be battling for my #1 spot in 2006."
"Wobbles on a thin rope that has been stretched between Paul Westerberg
and Ryan Adams."
"Travis Hopper's signature country-indie rock blend...showcase[s] his
style of songwriting that includes influences ranging from Sufjan
Stevens to Bruce Springsteen."
"His songs revel in their inherent hooks...[they] offer the same kind of
"lovable loser" narratives that make similar fare from Paul Westerberg
and Ryan Adams so endearing..."
"Solid indie rock...excellent debut album."
"...reminiscent of some of the golden goodies that were once spun on
70's AM radio...It's too real, too Texas, and too poppy for the market
as it stands. Their loss is our gain."
"An accomplished songsmith...a tightly played, engaging set of high
quality roots pop...conjures memories of early Freedy Johnston and
perhaps Josh Rouse. A very promising start from another fresh talent,
well worth keeping an eye on." |
