Coast 2 Coast Closeup – Travis Dolter

Travis Dolter was raised on a working farm right in the middle of the Alberta prairies and far from the bustle of the big cities of Eastern Canada, long after the heydays of the Barenaked Ladies, yet somehow the humour and musical influence of the Canadian iconic group has slipped into Dolter’s pure Canadian sound.

Growing up playing in the family band, the Polka Ramblers, Travis recalls packing his sleeping bag so he could sleep on stage while the family finished performing! He has raced stock cars, is an avid soccer player and Ukrainian Dancer and is in his final year of Kinesiology at Augustana University in Camrose.

Although Travis is just at the beginning of his career, he has already proven to be an artist of note, taking home the 2019 NACMAI International Male Vocalist & Entertainer of the year and 1st place in the 106.5 Star Search contest.  Travis has opened for Hey Romeo, played festivals including Big Valley Jamboree Songwriter’s & ACMA Horizon Stage and Feast at the Beach, showcased at the CCMA Diamonds in the Rough stage, headlined a NASCAR race and shared his music across Alberta and Saskatchewan during his Rural Nights Tour!

The pandemic of 2020 hit just as Travis was set to hit the festival season and prove himself on the stages that many talented Alberta artists had gone on before. With the festival season cancelled, Dolter was not dissuaded and set up a Drive-In show long before it was the “in thing”, attracting 114 cars.

Clearly a forward thinker, Travis believes in writing not for radio today, but for radio “a year from now”. A formula Travis is finding success with at radio, impacting all forms of radio, from terrestrial to satellite.

A young man not afraid of hard work, or the dedication it takes to get ahead in the music business, Dolter knows it takes a lot more than 3 chords and the truth to get noticed. Travis knows it takes hard work, attention to detail and an ability to be creative both on and off the stage. Travis has the gift of a real songwriter, the ability to view everyday situations and places through the lens of a storyteller. The mark of a talented storyteller is the ability to paint a picture with words; words that can emit a range of emotions. Travis has this gift.  Whether he is immersing you into a Nashville Bar in “Layla 14”, telling the story of being out on the lake as in “Lake Day”, taking risks in “Just To Say I Did” or finding the light side of the recent pandemic in “Bottle Depot”. Humour is a large part of Travis and whether he’s entertaining a small group of family, or headlining/producing his first Drive In show while wearing a Captains hat and putting rubber rain hats on his bandmembers, Travis will always find the humour and draw his audience in. Never the clown, Travis knows just the right way to build his audience up, bring them down and then with a rift of the guitar and a flash of humour, he’s bringing his audience back up again. A performer who knows just how to take his audience on the perfect balance of emotion.

Listen to the interview