T-Dog-guitar and singing
PW8-stand-up bass
Warden-cocktail drums, and washboard, and singing
Snake-guitar
or maybe Mike Rundle- Drums
or perhaps Jared Goodpaster-drums
Or what about Thomas Paul-Mandolin...........
Influences
Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Charlie Louvin, Mississippi John Hurt, Fats Waller, Blind Blake, Charles Mingus, King Oliver, Son house, Memphis Jug Band, Ma Rainey, Blind Leman Jefferson, Buck Owens, Hank Williams, Carter Family, Charley Patton, Doc Boggs, Charlie Christian, Chales Mingus, Iron Maiden, Django Reinhardt, Enio Moricone, Fred McDowell, Gillian Welch, Jesse May Hemphill, Johnny Cash, Townes Van Zandt, Leadbelly, Lenard Cohen, Tom Waits, Muddy Waters, Prison Songs, Scrapper Blackwell.......
Sounds Like
Urban but mostly rural. Or maybe you could call it "Death Folk".
HillFolk Noir Bio
Late 90’s-present
Hey There, I’m glad that you’re reading this. This is a rough guide to the simple life and times of the “Original Idaho Fly Fishing Folk Singer” and his band “HILLFOLK NOIR”.
It all started back in the late 90’s when Travis Ward, that’s me, was asked to play bass for his pal Doug Martsch’s (Built to Spill) bluesy/rootsy solo album. Anyways, Travis made enough money from the work that he did on “Now You Know” to independently release his own record. BOOM! Now you’ve got “Cobwebs in the Boxcar” by Travis Ward & Junkyard Bandstand. The band toured as much as they could and then went back into the basement and recorded another record. ZAM!!! Now you have “Flowers Don’t Bloom (a spaghetto western)”. Again, Travis and his band went back on road playing their country tinged, delta bluesed, psychedelic, swamp shack rags for any one who’d listen. Until……. Tragedy struck! Travis lost his band to real jobs that paid actual money… Suckers!!!
The end of Travis’s story? Hell No! Just the beginning… Travis played a fair number of shows as a solo and as a duo (with wife Ali) under the name Hillfolk Noir. He also made some cool lo-fi demo style recordings and called them “Attic Reels, Protests, and Nervous Breakdowns”. Travis called up his good buddy Mike Waite (El Dopamine, Lowbelly) and invited him to play some swinging stand-up bass. At this point the band seemed to need a drummer… So, Ali picked up an old cocktail kit, and the “Warden” was born. Now just because I’ve mentioned stand-up bass and drums, it doesn’t mean that every Hillfolk Noir show is a full band kinda thing. Some times a show is just Travis sitting on a chair singing old time songs, sometimes it Travis and Mike, sometimes it’s Ali and Travis, sometimes it’s a trio, and sometimes it’s more. You get the idea…
There’s more to it than just Hillfolk Noir. Travis has involved himself in few other projects of note. Did you know that he recorded and edited several hours of Traditional Basque Accordion music for the Idaho Basque Museum? Or recorded original songs and acted in Travis Swartz’s Film “Norman Waiting”. Scored Heather Rea (Frozen River, Spirit Award for best producer, and 2 Oscar Nominations) and Russell Friedenberg’s film “IBID”. This Film took Travis and Hillfolk Noir to SXSW in Austin. A grand ol time.
It was about this time that Hillfolk Noir recorded “Diggin Songs”. 17 songs about digging holes! The album was a little more dark and rock & rollish than the previous efforts. This was largely do to the electric guitar playing of Sam Merrick (Leaving Trains, Nymphs).
Recently Travis has been working on collaboration with TMP Choreographer, Trey McIntyre. A project where Travis meets each dancer in the company writes and records a piece representing the 1st impression of the dancer, and Trey creates a video of the dancer set to the music. It’s kinda like a magazine subscription; you pay 50 bucks and get a new DVD with the song and video every month.
Hillfolk Noir has also appeared on several compilations; “Somefolk” was used for the Emeritus Records comp “Boise, Id.”, “The Great Grizzly Bear Scare” was used for Tender Loving Empire Records comp “Friends and Friends of Friends”, and “A Round We Sing” was used for the Visual Arts Collective’s “Rotating Tongues comp”.
Currently Hillfolk Noir is playing as a small combo and planning to record a folky acoustic record up in a North Idaho cabin. One Microphone straight to tape. Thanks for reading. Travis
Things you could check out
www.petometz.com
http://www.myspace.com/hillfolknoir
http://treymcintyre.com/9+1/Pages/9+1_HillfolkNoir.html
www.Rotatingtongues.com
Curious about whom we’ve shared the stage with?
Neko Case, Built to Spill, Bonnie Prince Billie, James McMurtry, Lonesome Shack, Doug Martsch, Finn Riggins, Earl Brothers, Blind Pilot, Low-Fi, Dark Dark Dark, Justin Townes Earl, Rosalie Sorrels, Deer Tick, Or, the Whale, Chase Pagan, Jared Meese & the Grown Children, Nat Baldwin, Neva Denova, Ian McFeron, Pinto Bennet, Jeremiah James Gang, Gerald Collier, Jesse Dayton, Heroes and Villains, Woody Pines, Eilen Jewel, Horse feather, etc………………………………………………………………….
Hey boys, I really enjoyed your show with Horse Feathers last week. I have a show this Friday at Red Letter Books & Cafe with my buddy Pete Mason if you're interested. Have a great day!
hey guys. i opened for you tonight (the 26th of october) at the great pacific. i just wanted to let you know that i'm soooooooo bummed that i couldn't see your show. i had a choir concert. which sucks. but hopefully you'll be back again and i can see you. maybe even play with you guys again. well i hope to see ya'll again soon.
hey! thanx for befriending the store on here! u should stop in for the "free mix tape x-change" kick-off party this friday. check the blog for details :)
oh how we are sad it is raining and blustery and our bball game is in question for this afternoon
oh how we could use any help we can get spreading the word for these two album release related events this week...
all ages album release party @ Record Exchange tomorrow (TUE OCT 6th)!! 7pm. free.
full blown party @ VAC on Friday (OCT 9th) with LE FLEUR as well as BOY EATS DRUM MACHINE (portland) + JARED MEES & THE GROWN CHILDREN (portland) + VAGERFLY (boise) + A SEASONAL DISGUISE (boise). 8pm. only $5!
thank you. i hope the penitentiary gig is awesome on Sunday! can't wait to hear the recordings!
Hey, there! Thought you might like to know The Invasion is playing 2 great shows this weekend: Friday : Knitting Factory : Benefit for Pulse Radio Sunday : Visual Arts Collective : Built to Spill Tribute & Jensen Family Benefit Hope you can make it!
Hey, we just released two new albums, “Armageddon on the Rise” and “The Man with No Name” and they are available for free download if you’re interested. You can download them for free off our site if you like or you can just go to the following link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FQEJFBDH
dude found you album practically on the floor at music millennium in portland. love it. when are you guys going to play here again? would love to see you at lauralthirst. got some friends intrigued too.
Online Now!
