Travis Greene – Student Becomes The Master

CCM: This new album is another live release for you. What makes you decide to record in a live setting?
TG: For me, the live setting is really what I do and where I’m gifted. For a better analogy, it’s like finding Steph Curry in the gym. [Laughs] You’ve got the adrenaline and the crowd. For those moments, I chose to go live.

CCM: I’ve read where you mentioned that your songs live at this sort-of intersection of accessible melodies and theological depth, that there’s substance and style involved. Where did those specific values take root in you?
TG: Something super cool happened to me in 2011 when I started working at a church in Charlotte, North Carolina. When I started working there as a worship leader, you could literally count who was not white on one hand. I mean, you’re talking thousands and thousands of people, and that was one reason I was brought in was to help bring diversity to the church.

One thing that was very instrumental in helping my writing style was our guidelines for the songs we were able to perform at church. They had to be accessible and familiar, easy to learn and catchy. They had to be within the singing range of most of the people there and other things. However the lyrics were also scrutinized by our staff to make sure they were theologically correct and doctrinally sound.

Those guidelines in place helped forge a path for me in my musical approach, and that translated into my approach to writing music, as well. I wanted the songs to be songs that were easy to catch on with people. I wanted the chords to be easy and catchy but at the same time, I wanted them to say something. So in the back of my mind, I have my boss saying, “Okay, double check and triple check to make sure this is accurate!” That helps me a lot with my approach to music.

CCM: I know you’ve got some award shows coming up to attend, but what else is on the horizon?
TG: We have my first domestic tour. Right now I predominantly travel internationally. We’ve done five continents this year and we’ve done every continent we’re allowed to be on. They told me we can’t do a concert in Antarctica yet. [Laughs] We’ve literally traveled to several countries. I’ve done more internationally than domestic this year, so I’m excited to do that tour. It kicks off the end of February and goes through March.

click to buy