TRAVIS DENNING - Going Places - Mercury Nashville

Travis Denning is certainly no stranger to country music fans. His breakout smash “After A Few,” as well as radio darling “ABBY,” both earned him the tag as one of country music’s next big things; a momentum wave which he rode straight into his Might As Well Be Me EP, which featured “Buy A Girl A Drink.”

Denning has stayed incredibly busy over the past year, continuing to raise his status while offering snapshots of things to come through several acclaimed releases; “Strawberry Wine And A Cheap Six Pack,” “Second Best Thing,” “New Years Kiss,” and “Things I’m Going Through.”

He now offers the next preview of the project he’s currently working on with “Going Places.”

Written by Denning, Matt Mulhare, Paul DiGiovanni and Jeremy Stover, the song paces perfectly within its mid-tempo vibe to allow his vocals to carry the emotion of the lyric as he leans into the familiarity of his signature style, while stretching it to the far points of his comfort zone, leaving plenty of room to capture the up, down feelings that come with looking back on what could’ve been.

He instantly admits that his mama was right all along as he paints the picture of the two high school sweethearts who have clearly taken different paths in life; her being the one at the top of the class, finding the dream job she had to have, and skipping their small town to chase after it.

Though we don’t get much a look at who he was back then, Denning absolutely brings the listener into his still heartbroken over her leaving aura of today when he laments that they’ve both in fact gone to places in their life, slapping his arrival point through the chorus:

“(I’ve been) Goin' to that Keystone Light neon sign hangin' up in the door

That drinkin' spot with the parking lot full of Chevys and Fords

At the county line that you flew by, speed limit and my heart-breakin'

Your taillights ain't turnin' back but, you ain't the only one that's

Goin' places.”

In what becomes as much a transparent letter to her as it is a mirror facing moment with himself, the second verse sees him tackling the hard truths as he throws back another cold one, telling of how he “spent a couple days and nights all tore up” after her leaving, while admitting, “I know that I won't see the world like you do.”

As heartbroken as he clearly still is, there’s a eureka moment after that slap to himself in the second verse. Instead of being bitter, we find him wishing her well during the bridge as he maturely embraces the fact that she’s doing exactly what she needs to be doing with her life even if it meant leaving him behind.

Travis Denning is putting on a pure showcase of where he’s going with his music, expertly hyping the buzz for things still to come. Whether or not the songs he’s putting out are meant to impact radio or to just satisfy the itch of his fans clamoring for new music, Denning is aptly preparing his next chapter as he evolves as a songwriter in what is becoming an obvious career move that should bring him up to next level success.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

• Prev
• Next