My Honky Tonk History (CD - 2004)

Personnel: Travis Tritt (background vocals); Travis Tritt (vocals, guitar); John Mellencamp (vocals); Reggie Young (electric guitar, sitar, electric sitar); Larry Franklin (mandolin, fiddle); Connie Ellisor, Kristin Wilkinson, Mary Kathryn Vanosdale, Carl Gorodetzky, Pamela Sixfin, David Davidson , Alan Umstead, Gary VanOsdale (violin); Bob Mason , Carole Rabinowitz-Neuen (cello); John Jarvis (piano, Hammond b-3 organ, synthesizer); Hargus "Pig" Robbins (piano, synthesizer); Eddie Kilgallon, Ralph Richardson, John Wesley Ryles, Joy Lynn White, Neil Thrasher, Wes Hightower, Hurshel Wiginton, Amber Dotson (background vocals); Billy Joe Walker, Jr. (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, gut-string guitar); Biff Watson (acoustic guitar); Pat Buchanan, Tom Bukovac, Brent Mason (electric guitar); Dan Dugmore, Robby Turner (steel guitar, dobro); Béla Fleck, Jonathan Yudkin (banjo); Rob Hajacos (fiddle); Jim Hoke (harmonica); Eric Darken (vibraphone, cowbells, percussion); Mike Brignardello (bass guitar); Greg Morrow (drums, tambourine, percussion); Gretchen Wilson, John Cowan, Lisa Cochran, Melodie Crittenden, Tammy Cochran (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Chuck Ainlay.

Recording information: Emerald ENtertainment, Nashville, TN; Our Place Studio, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Frank Ockenfels.

In the early 1990s, Travis Tritt proved that post-Garth country could still be cool. With his rebellious, rocking style he came off as the heir to Waylon Jennings's Outlaw Country throne. More than a decade later, Tritt's blend of mainstream country and rock had become a given, but his descendents were merely watered-down imitations. 2004's MY HONKY TONK HISTORY proved that Tritt was still the master of the sound he popularized years before.

The country icon's rock & roll credentials are made clear by a duet with John Mellencamp ("What Say You"), but the finest moments are Tritt's alone. The Stones-tinged bar-room romp "Monkey Around" (co-penned by Benmont Tench of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers and Delbert McClinton) and the melancholy ballad "Circus Leaving Town" show two different sides of the singer's skills, and the bluesy, menacing "When Good Ol' Boys Go Bad" proves that unlike his contemporaries, he's not compelled to put a happy face on everything. In 2004, Nashville was in dire need of some HONKY TONK HISTORY, as amply supplied here. minimize