Profile by Don Robinson

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=2 style="border-right: 1px solid #555555;" BGCOLOR="#990000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="23278783.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width="100%" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="44dc0c03.jpg"> <bR> <bR> <div> A Salute to Travis Edmonson in His Diamond Jubilee Year</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="608" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 95 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="http://www.travisedmonson.com/cdsale.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.travisedmonson.com/cdsale.htm"><IMG SRC="661e9540.jpg" border=0 width="489" height="84" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <I><IMG SRC="66550500.jpg" border=0 width="80" height="80" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <I>click logo for more info</I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#BFBF00" FACE="Arial" ><B>For a website featuring over 75 Travis Edmonson music clips go to</B></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.travisedmonson.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.travisedmonson.com"><B>www.travisedmonson.com</B></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="bio.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biography"><IMG SRC="5bf821a0.png" border=0 width="130" height="26" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="records.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Recordings by Travis Edmonson"><IMG SRC="597821a0.png" border=0 width="130" height="26" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="portraits.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Portraits of Travis Edmonson"><IMG SRC="59a821a0.png" border=0 width="130" height="26" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="features.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Features Section"><IMG SRC="59c821a0.png" border=0 width="130" height="26" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="songs.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Travis Edmonson Songs"><IMG SRC="59f821a0.png" border=0 width="130" height="26" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <div> <A HREF="news.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News Additions"><IMG SRC="5a5821a0.png" border=0 width="130" height="26" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Home Page"><IMG SRC="596821a0.png" border=0 width="130" height="26" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="links.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><IMG SRC="5a1821a0.png" border=0 width="130" height="26" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="site_map.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Site Map"><IMG SRC="598821a0.png" border=0 width="130" height="26" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <bR> <div> Profile by Don Robinson</div> <bR> <div> When DON ROBINSON interviewed Travis Edmonson in the spring of 1961, his expectations were totally shattered, and he titled his piece “Folk Singer's No 'Character'</div> <bR> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> They said he was a folk singer and read poetry and that he worked in places like The Hungry i and the Purple Onion. It seemed like a good idea to bone up on "beatnik" before the interview.</div> <bR> <div> But Travis Edmonson, the nationally known guitar-strumming entertainer from Nogales, Arizona, turned out to be quite a surprise.</div> <bR> <div> He doesn't wear a beard or horn-rimmed glasses or sandals.</div> <bR> <div> Instead, the tall, slim, handsome musician had on a dark, well-tailored business suit.  He was clean shaven, and his shoes had a super shine.   He looked somewhat like an ambitious young attorney.</div> <bR> <div> He is well versed in his calling: "Folk music has great meaning to our modern times," he said. "It is our heritage as much as the national parks and the forests are our heritage.  This music that has retained its vitality for more than a hundred years can remind us of what we actually are, and of what our ancestors went through to make this nation so great."</div> <bR> <div> He pointed out that the Roman Empire had fallen partly because the people had nothing to remind them of the way they had come up.</div> <bR> <div> "And yet," he said, "a lot of people are inclined to think of folk music as antiquated lyrics badly sung to poor instrumentation."</div> <bR> <div> Mention "beatnik" to Edmonson and he frowns. "These conforming</div> <div> non-conformists, these weekend beatniks . . . they are merely opportunists with beards, and their reputation has hurt many of the folk singers," he said.</div> <bR> <div> Right now the young artist is in Tucson to write the lyrics and music for "Big Foot Wallace," a musical about a legendary Texas character to be produced on Broadway this fall.</div> <bR> <div> Edmonson got his start in folk singing from some of the greatest folk musicians of them all--the mariachis of Mexico.</div> <bR> <div> "When I was a kid in Nogales I used to sneak across the border and stand outside a saloon to listen to them," he recalled.  "I loved the sincerity and trueness of it all."</div> <bR> <div> Before returning to Arizona recently, Edmonson was teamed with another</div> <div> folksinger, Bud Dashiell. The pair are best known for their renditions of “Cloudy Summer Afternoon," "Ballad of the Alamo," and for their album, "Saturday Night at the Coffee House."</div> <bR> <div> Edmonson got his start on the road to success while attending the University of Arizona in the early 1950s.  In one week he and Roger Smith of the television show "77 Sunset Strip" won first place in the Horace Heidt Show, the Ted Mack Amateur Show and UA Talent Show.</div> <bR> <div> Not long after, he went into the Army and toured the world with a Special Services show.</div> <bR> <div> But the road was not without its curves. One night he was busy serenading at a UA sorority house, and just about the time the windows filled with coeds, a cop came along and hauled him in.</div> <bR> <div> Turned out you have to have a license to serenade in Tucson.</div> <bR> <div> "I paid two bucks for a license, and went back to romancing the gals," he said.  "As a matter of fact, I still have the license."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Don Robinson</div> <div> June 2, 1961</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="robinson_m.htm" TITLE="Profile by Don Robinson">Return to top</A>  </div> <bR> <bR> <div> -  or --  Return to Portraits       <A HREF="portraits.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Portraits of Travis Edmonson"><IMG SRC="3002a150.png" border=0 width="42" height="21" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="3102a150.png" border=0 width="42" height="21" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Home Page"><IMG SRC="45164140.jpg" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="links.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><IMG SRC="45264140.jpg" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="contact.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact the Site"><IMG SRC="45364140.jpg" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="site_map.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Site Map"><IMG SRC="45464140.jpg" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <div> <A HREF="records.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Recordings by Travis Edmonson"><IMG SRC="45564140.jpg" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="portraits.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Portraits of Travis Edmonson"><IMG SRC="45664140.jpg" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="features.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Features Section"><IMG SRC="45764140.jpg" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="songs.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Travis Edmonson Songs"><IMG SRC="45964140.jpg" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>For a website featuring over 75 Travis Edmonson music clips go</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.travisedmonson.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.travisedmonson.com"><B>www.travisedmonson.com</B></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>   <script language="Javascript"> // do not make any changes to anything past this point or tracking script will not work var data; document.cookie='__support_check=1'; if (location.host) { var domain_name = '&d=' + location.host; } else { var domain_name = '&d=unknown'; } if (document.referrer) { var referrer_website = '&r=' + document.referrer; } else { var referrer_website = '&r=unknown'; } if (navigator.appName) { var browser_name = '&b=' + escape(navigator.appName); } else { var browser_name = '&b=unknown'; } if (navigator.userAgent) { var full_browser_info = '&fbi=' + escape(navigator.userAgent); } else { var full_browser_info = '&fbi=unknown'; } if (navigator.appVersion) { var app_version = '&aV=' + escape(navigator.appVersion); } else { var app_version = '&aV=unknown'; } if (navigator.javaEnabled()) { var java_enabled = '&jE=' + navigator.javaEnabled(); } else { var java_enabled = '&jE=unknown'; } if (screen.width) { var screen_width = '&sw=' + screen.width; } else { var screen_width = '&sw=unknown'; } if (screen.height) { var screen_height = '&sh=' + screen.height; } else { var screen_height = '&sh=unknown'; } if (screen.colorDepth) { var color_depth = '&cd=' + screen.colorDepth; } else { var color_depth = '&cd=unknown'; } data = 'a=track' + domain_name + referrer_website + browser_name + full_browser_info + app_version; data = data + java_enabled + screen_width + screen_height + color_depth; document.write('<img border=0 hspace=0 vspace=0 src="http://stats.directnic.com/tracker.php?' + data + '">'); </script> <noscript> <img border=0 hspace=0 vspace=0 src="http://stats.directnic.com/tracker.php?a=noscript"> </noscript>   </div> </td> </tr></table></body>