A scholarship to The CMAA Academy of Country Music has opened a whole new musical world to Tamworth’s Travis Mitchel Evans.
Legendary multi-instrumentalist Lawrie Minson spotted Travis at an open mic night and offered him the John Minson Scholarship, named in honour of his late dad who was known as Mr Hoedown in the country music industry.
Tamworth Regional Council supports the scholarship to send a singer-songwriter from the region to The Academy to enhance their music knowledge, performance skills and industry connections.
Travis, who is a member of the Peel River Ramblers, said he’d heard of The Academy, but didn’t realise the scale of the intensive course until he looked into it further.
“It didn’t even really hit me how big of a deal it was until I got here,” he said.
“As soon as I realised who everybody was on staff and who was actually tutoring and who the special guests and songwriters were, I was like, ‘wow, this is a big deal’. When I realised I was the only one from Tamworth, and there were people from Nashville and New Zealand, I knew what a great opportunity it was.”
The Tamworth artist said the main benefits he wanted to get out of his time at The Academy were pushing his music career further, meeting more people and learning the skills to build his career, and it surpassed his expectations.
“I absolutely got all of that and also being able to let my guard down and be vulnerable without shame, to write a really emotional lyric and then share it in front of the class was quite exposing and vulnerable, but a really beautiful experience,” he said.
“Also, now whenever I’m stuck, I’m going to have people that I can call and be like, ‘what am I supposed to do?’ And they’re going to have a wealth of information.”
Travis said everyone running the organisation was well-decorated country music industry members, so The Academy was “incredibly important” for the industry and his fellow artists and he would recommend it to everyone.
“It is a good place to build a network in the industry,” he said.
“I think my advice would be firstly just get out and play because the only reason that I was found by Lawrie and selected for the scholarship is because I went to his open mic night, and I guess he saw something in me.
“So, if you go out to these music jams, there’s going to be somebody there that can help you in one way or another.
“If you’re not really sure what The Academy is, do some research because no matter what style of country music you play – pop country, folk, bluegrass, whatever, there’s so much you can learn. I would recommend just be proactive and try and find these academy opportunities.”
Travis is now inspired to get involved in more songwriting and industry events.
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