Travis Minnick Band signs contract, getting ready for tour

For the News Tribune

Cumberland, Md. - Local favorite the Travis Minnick Band has signed a recording contract and will be launching a national tour in June to support the release of their debut album.

The man behind making all this happen for the band is also a local native and veteran in the music industry, Nic Clark.

When Clark set off to recording school in 1999, he was aiming for the stars. Now, 13 years later, he will bring this local band along for the ride. Clark and the band are in the process of recording their debut album at his private northern Virginia studio, Pool House Studio. Clark has enlisted national award winning producers and engineers to push them to their fullest potential.

Through his years in the industry, Clark's credits include work with everyone from Lil Wayne and Britney Spears to the New Orleans legendary Marsalis and Neville families.

"When I first started in this industry, I was always the youngest guy in the control room," he remembers. "Because of my age, I had to work harder to earn everyone's trust with their music.

"This was a blessing in disguise as it made me good at what I do when under pressure. Another benefit of being young in this position was that every artist and producer I worked with seemed compelled to give me advice which I still carry with me today."

The Travis Minnick Band came to Clark after drummer Donny Carman sent in some demo recordings.

"He sent me a couple of demo recordings and I could hear the talent immediately," Clark recalls. "They were in the studio for a showcase within two weeks and I instantly knew they were the total package.

" I have recorded hundreds of artists and never have I had a band walk in the studio and have all the pieces for success. I signed them to our label, Bar Gal Records, within days. Now, a couple of months later, we're working on their debut album which will be released in June."

In addition to Minnick and Carman, the band includes guitarist Cody Bittinger, and bassist Eric Houdersheldt.

The band came to be when Carman, Bittinger and Houdersheldt moved on from another local country act. In search of a new singer, Bittinger recommended Minnick, who he had recently heard sing solo.

The accomplished singer/songwriter had been writing songs since he was 7 years old and been performing solo for the last six years. The four got together this past June and today they are selling out every local club.

Minnick says, "I realized we had something special when during one of our shows there were so many people that they were basically on stage with us. I ended up having one of the fans step on my microphone stand while I was singing and it smacked me right in the mouth." Situations like this continued and the Travis Minnick Band realized that they needed to share their music nationally with larger audiences.

There are only a few remaining shows in the area before the group heads into the studio for three months and they are pulling out all of the stops. One of the last chances to see the local phenomenon comes during a show at the Cumberland Outdoor Club on Saturday, Feb. 16.

Tickets for the show can be purchased in advance for $10 at the Cumberland Outdoor Club, located on Industrial Boulevard, during normal business hours.

Local radio stations WFRB and "The Wolf" will be promoting the show on Feb. 15. At 8 a.m. the band will perform live on 105.3 WFRB's Hannah and the Trucker show followed by an interview on 100.1 "The Wolf" at 10:30 a.m. The show will likely be a sell out so both stations will be doing ticket giveaways throughout the week leading up to the show.

Travis Minnick Band can be found online at www.travisminnickband.com. More information on Clark can be found on the GalaMusic Productions website at www.galamusicproductions.com.