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Merle Travis

Merle Travis

The Kentucky picker who turned coal-mine hardship into 'Sixteen Tons' and gave his name to a guitar style that shaped modern country.

APPLE MUSIC

Cannonball Rag - Instrumental

Merle Travis

About

MOODS · reflective · working-class storytelling · nostalgic Americana · intricate acoustic guitar · classic country

BIOGRAPHY

Merle Travis (1917-1983) grew up in Rosewood, Kentucky, and learned his signature thumb-and-finger picking style from Mose Rager and Ike Everly. He rose through Clayton McMichen's Georgia Wildcats and the Drifting Pioneers before finding a national audience via Cincinnati's WLW radio, later singing gospel with Grandpa Jones and the Delmore Brothers in the Brown's Ferry Four. His solo career took off in 1946 and produced hits like 'Cincinnati Lou' and 'No Vacancy,' followed by songs including 'Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)' and 'Sixteen Tons,' which became a massive hit for Tennessee Ernie Ford in 1955. Travis also acted, appearing alongside Frank Sinatra in 'From Here to Eternity,' and helped design an early solid-body electric guitar built by Paul Bigsby.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Travis is a foundational figure in country guitar history: his 'Travis picking' technique, an alternating-thumb style separating bass and melody, influenced generations of players, including Chet Atkins and Doc Watson, both of whom named sons after him. His songwriting captured the economic struggles of coal miners with unusual specificity, most famously in 'Sixteen Tons,' which became one of the best-selling singles ever recorded. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame, and his 1973 collaboration with Chet Atkins won a Grammy.

ON WOKE-1

Played 2 times on WOKE-1.