Working in music means you have to play the game to a certain extent. Doing label favors, playing certain shows, recording certain features. You never know what leg work you might have to pull off in order to make your way where you want to go. The rewards that come with that invites you to award shows, they grant you the prestige and love you've worked so hard for. However, some people don't do it for those reasons. Travis Tritt surely doesn't.
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He found peace in realizing that he may never be that industry golden child. He may never be anyone's big favorite at awards shows. However, Travis has also found a semblance of peace in this. In February 1995, he spoke to the Los Angeles Times, where he examines where he fits in the broader lens of outlaw country. While someone like Hank Williams Jr. may receive a lot of love from the establishment, Tritt finds himself on the outskirts. However, he realizes that he's never going to be someone the industry can control and he's happy with that.
Travis Tritt Finds Contentment With His Place in Country
"People have a tendency to like people that they can control, people who don't rock the boat. The powers that be in Nashville are no different. They like people that are humble and have an 'aw, shucks' kind of attitude toward the business. I have that to a certain extent," Travis explains, "but I also know that I worked my butt off for a lot of years, as I'm sure all these other guys have done. I worked a lot of rough places and worked on my music and got fired from a lot of jobs and ate Vienna sausage sandwiches for six months at a time cause that's all you could afford."
Travis Tritt uses this perspective and refuses to use that 'happy to be here' sentiment. Instead, he embraces the hard work that it took to get far into his career, even if it meant rubbing people the wrong way. "I did that for a lot of years, and to sit back and say, 'Well golly gosh, I'm just so glad that I've been given this opportunity and I really don't deserve this' would be a lie. I feel like I have deserved the things that I've worked for," Travis says, "I've put a lot into this. I've put my whole life on it. And that is an attitude that the awards show people and a lot of the powers that be don't particularly care for."
