One on One With Travis Greene

GOSPELflava talks with multiple Stellar Award-winning chart topping singer/songwriter and recording artist Travis Greene as he celebrates his new album Crossover: Live from Music City, making its debut at #1 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums Chart.  Greene celebrates a historic marker as the first Gospel artist to garner over 1 million album streams in the first week of release.

Recorded live in Nashville over two days, Crossover is the ultimate worship experience with 15-tracks celebrating the glory of God from the beginning to the end of the disc.  With production work from Greene along with noted producers Bernie Herms, Jason Ingram, Paul Mabury and Jevon Hill,  Crossover strikes a resounding chord with Gospel music fans across the globe.  Greene gets vocal assistance from the likes of Dante Bowe on Fell in Love as well as BET Sunday Best Season _ Winner Geoffrey Golden and Isaiah Templeton on See the Light.  The lead single,  “You Waited,” continues to make an impact across multiple charts hitting #4 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs Chart and #6 on Billboard’s Gospel National Airplay Chart.  Additionally, his new album debuts at #15 on Soundscan’s Top Current Album chart, and his previous hit album The Hill also makes a return on the Top Gospel Albums Chart at #3 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums Chart this week.

GOSPELflava: Congrats on your number 1 debut, Travis.  Share with us your feelings about the success of the album and how you came up with You Waited as the lead single.

Travis Greene: I am absolutely just mind blown by the impact it has had so far, you know, the songs really came off of a revelation, that’s how I write based on things that God reveals to me about Himself, that is what I tried to do with Intentional, just seeing Him in that light, that’s how I did with Made A Way seeing Him as a waymaker and a mountain mover and now with You Waited, just seeing Him, of course we know He’s powerful and beautiful and all of those things but  one attribute that we don’t give enough thought to is that He is patient and for me, just thinking of that really is what caused the music to take shape and the song to come to light for me,

I started with the story in John 4 about Jesus meeting the woman at the well, I love the story, and one thing that is cool about the story is the woman would have never been “fixed”, He would have never told her about the 5 guys (not the restaurant) she had been with, He would have never told her He could give her water that would never run out and all those things, none of that would have happened without Him waiting on her.

We chose You Waited as a single really because of two reasons, one, the impact it had on me personally.  It really ministered to me even in the writing process.  I was kinda undone by the idea of His patience and it really affected me in a serious way, and then in addition to that, when we did it at the live recording , it was THE song, we sung it one night for 45 minutes and then the next night we sang it for 30 minutes maybe longer, from then we just knew that it was the song that would just ring in the hearts of God’s people,  so we wanted to come out with that first.

GOSPELflava: You recently celebrated your first year anniversary as pastor of Forward City Church. How are you able to juggle the demands on your life and roles including pastor, husband,  Dad and traveling musician?

Travis Greene: I don’t  (laughs), it is crazy man, it’s a roller coaster, sleep doesn’t exist right now, maybe it will in my 40s, but it doesn’t right now and even when I get home and think I’m gonna take a nap.   I have 2 little boys that are like, no man that’s not gonna happen, we actually have other plans for you;  right now,  its go go go go go, catch a nap when you can then go go go go go go go,  but its fun, I’m enjoying it, really the most sleep I get is on the long international flights but its cool I am enjoying the journey.