The Corridor Magazine_September 2021

Page 26

NOTES ALONG THE

Corridor

by RICK REILEY

United They Sing

TRAVIS FITE and MONICA TAYLOR Travis Fite has been a part of the Tulsa/Northeast Oklahoma music scene for some time. He’s a songwriter, guitar player, engineer and soundman. He and Monica Taylor, the Cimarron Songbird, hostess of the Prairie Breeze concerts in Perkins, were recently married. I asked himRR: Where were you born? TF: Charlottesville, VA. My Dad was in law school there @ UVA…. during the Vietnam War where he eventually served after school stateside. We moved around for a few years (Army bases) and then decided to settle back in OK, where both Mom and Dad were born, to raise my sister and me. RR: Were you from a musical family? TF: Somewhat yes, on my mother’s side. My great grandmother (Big Mama) picked guitar, sang songs and dipped snuff. They were typical kinda Okie folks who did, at times, migrate to California for work during the depression. He told me his mother sings beautifully, and that he has talented cousins and aunts, one trained in Operatic style who performed with her husband in Russian Folk and bluegrass influenced ensembles. They promoted both Russian and American folk and bluegrass styles, and played a wide range of instruments, including Balalaika, Domra, mandolin, autoharp, acoustic guitar, dulcimer and upright bass.. His father played trombone in the highschool band with Leo Kottke. Yes, THAT Leo Kottke, who later switched to guitar. His dad’s band experience ended there but not his interest in music. Kottke went on to tremendous success in the 70’s with his masterful acoustic guitar style.

26 THE CORRIADOR MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2021

Travis said,‘...my father played a HUGE role in the development of my musical ear. He allowed me to find my way without pressure and he turned me on to a wide variety of music, including Soul, Blues, Jazz, Bluegrass, early Honky Tonk, Outlaw Country, Black Gospel, 60’s Psychedelia as well as the great Texas Troubadours, to name a few. Leo Kottke would occasionally show up at their family home to play for friends and family, sometimes long into the night. He said that those kinds of experiences and love of recorded music always resonated with him and pushed his imagination. He began playing in band in grade school and junior high and briefly in high school before turning to voice and guitar in hopes of feeding the urge to explore jazz. He played on his own through college. He learned much more by simply spending a lot of time listening. (Great


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.