It's a sound you may have heard before, but now it rings of Baja rather
than the Caribbean. It's definitely worth a listen to.
Interview and photos by Emily Hansen
(Click on
images to expand /
Song titles play MP3 samples)
Some
years ago, back on the East Coast, there was a man, who bought a boat,
went sailing and wrote a few songs. Today there is another man, he built a
boat, went sailing and wrote a few songs. However, he is on the West
Coast. His name is Travis of Mystery Tramp. In his fresh blend of cruiser
country rock he’ll take you South of the Border with his songs about the
ocean, sailing, unusual characters, Mexico and yes, margaritas.
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What
kind of harmonics do you play?
Lee Oskar
What kind of sound equipment?
I have a Carvin 620 PA system with 2 speakers and a mixer.
Where do you keep it all?
When I built the boat I designed a music area in the salon for the
instruments. I keep the PA system in the fore cabin.
You
built your own boat, why?
I read John Neal’s “Log of the Mahina” and got it in my mind
cruising was something I wanted to do. Then while living in Costa Rica I
met cruiser who had built his own steel boat. I said I can do that, so I
moved
back to the States, found a partially finished rusty hull and bought a
book. I was 28 and had no idea what I was getting myself into. Two years
into the building, I met my mermaid, at a New Year’s Eve Grateful Dead
show. Together we completed the boat that is now Mystery Tramp.
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 The
sun is setting over Baja setting the sky ablaze in a fiery fuchsia as the
water darkens to a deeper shade of purple. It’s another warm evening in
the Sea of Cortez, but the cervezas are cold. Travis sets his guitar down
in the cockpit of Mystery Tramp, his self-built 44’ steel sailboat and
agrees to answer a few questions as long as there is a squeeze of lime and
a dose of sea salt to go with the cervezas.
A
blue guitar, that’s unusual, what kind is it?
It’s a Dean. Ocean blue with abalone inlay.
Where did you find it?
A groovy little shop, Amazing Grace in San Anselmo, California. I took my
Ovation in for some work and saw it on the on the wall. It just looked
like the perfect Mexico guitar, and then it spoke to me and said
“Baja”. I played it and fell in love with the sound. So I traded in my
Ovation and $50 and walked out with it.
 It’s
so beautiful don’t you worry about it in the marine environment?
Sure, it’s a $1000 guitar, but guitars are meant to be played. I drag it
with me everywhere, in the dingy, to other boats, to the beach, to the
bars.
Do
you have other instruments on Mystery Tramp?
Yes, I have my harmonicas, a Djembe, bongos, an Egyptian drum Emily found
in a thrift store and several shakers. We like to keep lots of percussion
instruments because whenever we have people on the boat there is bound to
be music. We’ve had some incredible music nights on Mystery Tramp and
the beaches of Baja. I also have my sound system.
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Have you always written songs?
I’ve been writing for about 10 years but it was never serious, just
personal songs that I didn’t want to share. I started cruising and had
the time to write. The desire to share my songs just became a natural
thing. I played them on the boat, on other cruisers boats, at bars and
cruiser festivals, such as Loreto Fest in Baja. Who
have been your musical influences?
First and foremost Bob Dylan, also Jimmy Buffet, Willie Nelson, the
Grateful Dead and the Beatles.
Most
musicians start their careers in their 20’s, you are in your 30’s and
just released your first CD, “The
Ocean is a Woman”, why now?
As I said my songs before had been personal, something changed cruising
and I wanted to share them. I played my songs for a producer friend of
Emily’s, Mark of Sharkbite Studios. The songs turned him on, he believed
in them and offered to record the CD. He was major force behind “The
Ocean is a Woman”. I also had a woman who believed in me and my music,
that helped.
Many
of your songs are people stories, such as “Naked
Canadian”, are they based on real people?
Yes, all my songs are inspired by real people or real experiences. The
“Naked Canadian” was inspired by a close friend. I first discovered
the Naked Canadian anchored in Sausalito. I was sitting on deck, playing
guitar. I looked over at this cruising boat with laundry hanging on the
rails when I noticed this full moon starring back at me. I yelled below to
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