NOTES ON THE CORRIDOR

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.

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

advice for all of us! No matter what the topic!)

He moved to New Orleans for a few years to soak in the jazz influence. Eventually coming back to Tulsa and then on to San Francisco to further his musical experience.

TF: I’ve lead or been a part of a lot of bands, Phat Thumb (Tulsa based) What’s That (Bay Area, Soul funk band), Full Flava Kings (the early years) Wayman Tisdale band, Denada, Soul Rebelz (Reggae band), Uncle Funkus (a solo loop station funk project where I played and recorded all the parts live, beatbox, bass, guitar) And many other collaborations with Jared Tyler, Steve White, and the talented Monica Taylor, now my lovely my wife, to name a few.

He plays a variety of styles and does them well. You can hear them all by searching for Travis Fite music on iTunes or other music media. On Facebook: Facebook. com/travisfiteart

Monica Taylor has been a part of the Cimarron Valley Red Dirt music scene for a couple of decades and has served as inspiration to many other artists. She’s also a mainstay of the Cimarron Breeze concert series held in Perkins. A few years ago she appeared on Garrison Keillor’s ‘Prairie Home Companion’ radio program and turned in a beautiful performance. She’s toured and recorded with Patrick Williams as the ‘Farm Couple’, with the Cherokee Maidens western swing group, as well as her band, the Red Dirt Ramblers.

I asked how she became known as the Cimarron Songbird. She told me one night long ago, in front of Hideaway Pizza in Stillwater, friends Jimmy LaFave and Bob Childers came up with it. It stuck. (Childers and LaFave, both now deceased, were huge influences to generations of ‘red dirters’.)

RR: I know you’ve recently gotten married. Can you tell us how you met Travis?

MT: Our paths had crossed a few times 20 or 25 years ago, as he used to come out to The River’s Edge in Tulsa, an outdoor cafe on the Arkansas River, to listen to me and Patrick Williams when we would play our roots folk music there as The Farm Couple.

When she was recording her second solo album, Cotton Shirt, it was done at her friend Jared Tyler’s studio in Tulsa. Travis Fite was a part of that studio and she got to know him better at that time.

She found him pleasant, professional and very helpful.

MT: So when I needed a sound man for the very first Cimarron Breeze concert, I called him! Every time he pulled up in his car to unload equipment for a show I felt like ‘no matter what else happens tonight, I know the sound will be great, and that Travis would make me laugh! And the sound has been great, and he continues to make me laugh!

I noticed via social media that the two of them also recently visited Europe. I asked and it seems it wasn’t in their plans. It turns out Travis’ daughter, Olivia, was acting in a new movie ‘Wildfire’ based on the Michael Martin Murphy song of the same name. The movie was filmed largely in eastern Oklahoma. Travis and Monica both had a brief musical moment in the movie performing a song Monica had written and Travis had a hand in writing some of the soundtrack.

As a result they found themselves being invited to the Cannes Film Festival as part of that film entourage and were surprised because such a trip had not been in their immediate plans.

Now back home, they’re doubling down on the completion of three recordings. Monica’s new solo project titled, Trains, Rivers and Trails, her best to date according to her husband, and a double vinyl recording, the first of three, hopefully, highlighting Red Dirt songs that inspired three or four generations of younger Red Dirt artists and fans.

This includes more than 50 Oklahoma musicians. Too numerous to mention here!

They’re using their own Barnhouse Studio but much of the recording is being done under the auspices of Charlene Ripley, a Perkins alum, at Ripley’s Farm Studio in Glencoe. The Ripley’s owned the infamous Church Studio in Tulsa for 20 years before retiring to the old home place. Steve Ripley, who passed away in 2019, left a legacy of deep musical ties and influence that will last for years.

After their recent glimpse of the music scene in France and Spain they’re excited to plan a musical tour there in the not too distant future. But first these in-progress recordings must be buttoned down and ready for launch.

If you haven’t yet had the pleasure to hear these folks, you can always take corrective action and get right with the world!

Find out more information here: https://monicataylormusic.com

Monica also adds that the Cimarron Breeze folks will be hosting Malcom Holcombe and Jared Tyler in concert at the Old Church in Perkins at the Territorial Plaza on September 20th at 7 o’clock. For more information and the concert series schedule go to: www.cimarronbreeze.com