Travers Chandler and Avery County

Travers Chandler and Avery CountyTraditional and original Baltimore barroom bluegrass…..
Travers Chandler and Avery County is a young and energetic group of seasoned young professional entertainers who have toured extensively around the world and have now come full circle to make the kind of music that inspired them. Each band member brings to the table a wealth of previous experience including stints with Karl Shiflett and The Big Country Show, Bobby Osborne, Audie Blaylock and Redline, The James King Band, The Bluegrass Brothers, Jimmy Martin, Mitch and Bill Harrell and a host of others. Travers Chandler started the group in late 2006 to preserve the legacies of his heroes Charlie Moore, Red Allen, Frank Wakefield, Buzz Busby, Earl Taylor, Walter Hensley and the other pioneers of the Baltimore scene of the 1950’s and 60’s. But as Tina Aridas states in the liner notes of their debut CD “Me and the jukebox”…”While Avery County approaches the music with obvious reverence for its founders, this is no nostalgia band. They bring to the table their own fresh ideas and original material.” While James King says “This is the best music I have heard in a lot of years” The band strives to present their music in a soulful manner with an energizing live show. They feel the most important part of the show is to leave their audiences ENTERTAINED. At the age of 27 Travers Chandler is quickly becoming one of the leading young mandolin players in Bluegrass. His hard chops and bluesy passages are reminiscent of the best work of Buzz Busby, Frank Wakefield, and Bill Monroe. His lead and tenor vocals are hard edged and powerful. The entire band sings and plays with power and dynamics while using one microphone. It is a show one must see and hear to believe.The group got it’s name from a Charlie Moore album of the same title giving a nod to Travers’ biggest hero. Baltimore barroom bluegrass is a style of hard edged traditional bluegrass music coming from the sounds of people like Charlie Moore, Red Allen, Walter Hensley, Buzz Busby, Earl Taylor and others from the early days. A time when playing in smoky dangerous bars were the only source of revenue for these great bands. Avery County is striving to take these sounds to a whole new audience through festivals, clubs and the college circuit. They are not a group who recently discovered bluegrass. They grew up on a diet of it and are the genuine article.The group would welcome the opportunity to present their dynamic program and entertainment package at your venue. The band is based out of Nashville allowing them to give you the best entertainment value by being close to almost everywhere!
What others are saying:
"Many thanks for sending us a copy of your debut "Me & the Jukebox" -- and what a sparkling debut it is! This is the real deal--tough, gritty, edgy grass that really does bring back memories of days gone by when bluegrass had more testosterone and power. You all have not only perfected that classic sound Red, Buzz and Charlie, but have taken it one step further with your many originals and inspired covers. I especially enjoyed "Smoke Filled Honky Tonk," "Wolf is at the Door," "Jukejoint Boogie" and "Upstairs in the Bedroom."I think you all have definitely carved out a much needed niche for yourselves and that you have a promising future in front of you. I know I’ll be doing my best to spread the word."-Dave Higgs Nashville Public Radio...Host of "Bluegrass Breakdown"
"We receive promo pacs with demos to listen to all the time. We listen to them all (at least the first cut) but most just get filed away to never be heard again. However, every now and then we get a real gem that goes into constant rotation on our player. This is the case with Avery County’s new project, "Me And The Jukebox". The CD is a "concept album" focusing on the darker side of the Baltimore barroom scene of the 1960’s. The material maintains continuity and is mostly original or great obscure "deep catalog" songs that I don’t recall hearing before. The 4 piece band has developed their own consistent style which seems to be a rare thing these days. Both the banjo and mandolin are played with a unique bluesy style throughout the recording. Robert Overstreet uses a lot of very tasteful Reno type licks on the banjo and Travers Chandler takes Monroe to another level with his syncopated percussive blues style mandolin playing. There is an abundance of really cool fill licks that aspiring pickers should check out. Hank Bowman on the guitar and Adam Poindexter on the bass do an outstanding job of supporting the vocals and lead instruments. The project has a clean and uncluttered sound and is not overproduced like so many are. I highly recommend this album to any moldy figs who are looking for the real deal."-Andy Alexander "Pickin in the pasture" Lodi NY
“One of the best albums I have ever heard” James King
WITH MY HERO FRANK WAKEFIELD