Travis Dolter doesn’t write fiction. In our interview shortly before he took to the EPAC stage he explained: “I don’t really like to write fictional stories. Like, if I’m going to sing it, I want it to be real, how I feel, or else the audience isn’t going to get that connection”. His two set, 24 song plus an encore performance was peppered with high energy country and pop covers amid eleven songs drawn from his own experiences. “Yeah, most of it’s actually my own stories. They’re ones that everybody’s lived. Right? I tell the stories behind them and there’s something in every story that’s something I did.”
Songs Drawn from Real Life
His compositions, “Hell of a Saturday Night”, “Hit by a Truck”, and “I Know” celebrate the good times. The relationship songs “Somewhere”, “Hell If I Know” and the looking back “Older Than We Were” reflected the other side of life. Dolter’s latest single, the radio friendly “Tailgate Therapy”, is his rural recipe for peace of mind. “Tonight I’m going to have me some tailgate therapy. / Parked out in my back forty / where nobody can see / my fifth can fallen’ from my hand / …I’ll be here until my mind goes clear / just me and my Chevy / with some tailgate therapy.”
Chemistry on Stage
The Hay Lakes singer-songwriter was well received by an Eleanor Pickup Arts Centre audience last Friday night. Supported by a four piece band, Dolter’s performance was tight and dynamic. Dolter’s high energy vocals and Peter Kirkland’s rockin’ guitar licks were mixed in with contemplative and introspective ballads. Dolter and his bandmates were playful on stage. “When you’re having fun with a group of guys on stage, the audience has fun with you, right? So my drummer, Ryle Chastel and Kirkland, they’re both phenomenal instrumentalists and great singers as well. And just the stuff they do on stage! They match my spontaneity and they bring more energy. Aidan Johner on bass has that raw energy. They’re the most fun guys to be around.” The audience was won over by Dolter’s joyful, jesting, stage romping energy and responded with enthusiastic appreciation.
There is a close bond with Dolter’s best friend, keyboard player and co-writer, Lane Anderson. “Like, he just brings a lot. His job is to tell me what’s bad, not sugarcoating it. So I sing something. I’m like, yeah, I think it’s this. He’s like, no, that sucks. He tells me how it is, which is very valuable in a friend, right? I’m actually going to be his best man in his wedding!”
Trusting His Gut
I quoted Canadian Country music star Aaron Pritchett from my interview of January 2024 to him: “With new artists what we’re finding, it’s very tough for them to come into the industry with something different. We have limitations on what’s too Country and what’s too Pop, or too Rock” Dolter agreed. “So you have to really try hard to steer it [song writing] in the direction you want creatively to be. I consciously try to be somewhere in the middle so that everybody can enjoy it, especially when you go into the studio. I feel it, like, in my bones and I just do it. It’s a good guide then, isn’t it? I trust my gut with everything that I do. I don’t overthink things. And so far, the gut’s worked out really well.” Yes, it has. Since 2019 the accolades keep piling up; most recently his 2025 nomination for Country Music Alberta’s Fan’s Choice Award. If the EPAC audience could vote, rising country star Travis Dolter would win for sure.