Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 22, 1994 TAG: 9404220158
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
At least not personally.
If he did, if he was the hellraising, longneck-loving roughneck he is stereotyped as, then he would be a rude, contemptible jerk, explained country singer Travis Tritt, who will play the Roanoke Civic Center on Saturday. "That's an image I try very, very hard not to cultivate."
Musically, now, that's a different story.
In music, he covets the outlaw image, proud to carry on the Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof swagger of his heroes Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr., Lynyrd Skynyrd and others who have set the standard for railing against convention. "From a music standpoint, I'm very proud of it," he said in a telephone interview.
"For me, outlaw means you do things your way."
It means combining Southern rock and country in a way that makes it hard to separate them, when the Nashville establishment, crazy for hat acts and honky tonk copycats, warned against it.
"In that respect, I'm very much an outlaw," Tritt said.
But as a person, he said he is the nicest guy you could ever meet, and not nearly as rough and wild as people might think, more apt to strap on an air tank and flippers than to tie one on and let out a rebel yell.
Out of the spotlight and the buckskin, scuba diving is his vice of choice.
His last vacation was a 10-day scuba trip out of the country.
None of this completely explains, however, Tritt's choice for the title of his new album, scheduled for release next month, nor the title of the album's first single, or the title of Tritt's upcoming autobiography. All of them share the moniker: Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof.
So, which is it?
Invincible and tall, or scuba certified and tame?
Exactly.
The song, "Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof," which Tritt wrote, is a spoof of the stereotypical Saturday-night-fighting loser who only feels like a man after a few too many beers. Ultimately, he picks a fight - and remains the loser he started out as sober.
Not exactly a swaggering anthem, is it?
Tritt said he first tried to write the song as just that: a bad boy anthem. "It started out as an attitude song," he explained. But it just didn't click that way. It didn't click until he changed the song to a send-up, really, of the outlaw image.
Instantly, he knew it was a keeper. "I love to write songs that make me laugh," he said.
It was only logical that the album title would follow suit. Tritt's last album was titled, appropriately, "T-R-O-U-B-L-E." And the autobiography? Chalk up the choice for the title more to market strategy, than to country touch guy posturing.
Tritt said the book, which he wrote with Michael Bane of Country Music Magazine, focuses on his experience in Nashville, without pushing some false image of him as a hellion. The book was a project he didn't want to do at first.
"I said what in the world am I gonna write about? I wasn't abused. I never tried suicide."
But he thought about it. "I had a lot of misconceptions about this business," he said.
He thought it only took one hit record to be a star. "Then you become an overnight millionaire, you buy Mom and Dad the house, you buy the Cadillac." That was not the reality. So, for the book, he said: "What I wanted to see was an accurate description of what goes on behind the scenes."
Even now, ready to release his fourth album, with a Grammy award to his credit and a growing catalog of hit songs, Tritt said the business is still a struggle. He wouldn't say whether he was a millionaire yet.
"I'll put it this way: I'm not where I want to be."
Meanwhile, Tritt is staying busy. He was one of the featured country performers at last January's Super Bowl halftime show. He sang a duet with Patti LaBelle on the album, "Rhythm, Country & Blues." He cut a remake of "Take It Easy" for the album, "Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles." He did another duet with David Lee Roth on the former Van Halen singer's new album.
He also is the host of VH-1 "Country Countdown," and will appear this summer in "The Cowboy Way," a rodeo movie with Woody Harrelson and Kiefer Sutherland. Tritt contributed to the film's soundtrack, as well.
In the future, Tritt will be teamed with George Jones on the legendary singer's next album of duets covering his classic songs. They are remaking "The Race Is On." Tritt said he also has been tapped to sing on a George Harrison tribute album.
All of which, of course, will leave Tritt with precious little time for riding his Harleys.
Or scuba diving.
by CNB