Riser: Travis Meadows

Challenge Your Thinking with Dr. Linda Tucker

Travis Meadows is known by "Rolling Stone" magazine as "Nashville's most badass songwriter." Whether or not you’re familiar with or even like country music, it is often about love, loss and and human resilience. “Riser,” a song co-written by Travis Meadows and performed by Dierks Bentley, is one of those songs that stays with you long after you listen to it, and you can’t help but wonder about the life behind those words. If you listen closely, you get the sense that Travis’s depth of insight has been forged because of struggle, and that taking the long way has given him something rare and irreplaceable. Dealing with cancer at fourteen, growing up with an absent father, and wrestling with addiction are only a few of the mile-markers on his life’s journey. Today you will hear how Travis discovered how to make peace with his past and how he learned that you can’t truly appreciate light without the darkness. Travis teaches us to aim for authenticity rather than accolades, and to accept what we cannot control. He has written songs for country artists such as Eric Church, Jake Owen, Leann Womack, and Wynonna Judd to name a few, making his unique artistry unmistakable. As Travis agrees and I believe...nothing meaningful ever comes easy. Travis has had to fight for his voice, and in the process of doing so, discovered the "Riser" inside of him.