Travis Collins

Travis William Collins (born 4 May 1985 in Cessnock, New South Wales) is an Australian country music singer-songwriter and guitarist. Three of his albums have reached the ARIA Albums Chart top 20, Hard Light, Brave & the Broken (2018) and Wreck Me (2020). He has won eight Golden Guitar trophies at the annual Country Music Awards of Australia and four CMC Australian awards. Collins is an ambassador for RUOK? Day.

Early life

Travis William Collins was born on 4 May 1985 in Cessnock, New South Wales, Australia. He is the second youngest son of six children, their parents are Terry Collins, also a musician, and Debbie ( Conroy). Collins busked on Peel Street, Tamworth at age 11. He was a graduate of the NSW Public Schools Talent Development Program.

Career

In January 2004 Travis Collins competed at the Star Maker Quest at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. He won for his performance of "Bridge That You Won't Burn", which was co-written by Collins with his father Terry. He issued his debut studio album, Start the Car, in 2005 via ABC Music. It peaked at No. 15 on the ARIA Hitseekers Albums chart.

His second album, No Boundaries (18 August 2007), reached No. 18 on the ARIA Hitseekers Albums chart. It was co-produced by Collins and Herm Kovac. Dave Dawson of Nu Country observed, "the peaks are the album's finale – anthemic agoraphobia escape tune 'Walls Come Down' and summary justice narrative 'What Comes Around'." On 13 February 2015 Collins released his fourth studio album, Wired, via Universal Music Australia, which peaked at No. 26 on the ARIA Albums Chart;

Collins joined fellow country artist Adam Brand, together with Drew McAlister (ex-McAlister Kemp), Matt Cornell (ex-Baby Animals) and Mike Carr ( Buddy Goode) to perform as Adam Brand and the Outlaws at the Gympie Muster in August 2015. They issued an album, Adam Brand and the Outlaws, in January 2016.

Hard Light, the artist's fifth album, appeared on 6 May 2016, which peaked at No. 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart and No. 2 on the related Country Albums Chart. Staff writer for Yarrawonga Chronicle described how, "[it] moves everything up a gear, with Collins digging deeper than ever before, not only with his vocals but also as a musician and a songwriter." At 2017 Country Music Awards of Australia (CMAA) Collins won three Golden Guitar trophies: Male Artist of the Year for Hard Light, Song of the Year for "Call Me Crazy" (shared with co-writer, Damien Leith), and Single of the Year for "Just Another Girl". At the 2018 Country Music Awards of Australia he won three more Golden Guitar trophies: Vocal Collaboration of the Year (with Lawrence) for "Our Backyard", Song of the Year for "Our Backyard" (shared with Lawrence and Matt Scullion) and Single of the Year for "Our Backyard" (shared with Lawrence).

On 17 August 2018 Collins released his sixth solo album, Brave and the Broken, recorded in Nashville with all tracks written or co-written by Collins. He was joined in the studio by session musicians, Carl Miner on acoustic guitar (Taylor Swift), Mike Rojas on keyboards (Luke Bryan), and Jimmy Carter on bass guitar (Alan Jackson); it was produced by Luke Wooten (Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley). Rebecca Belt of The Country Journo observed, "[it] came from a place of healing... [and] about people who make small anonymous efforts everyday."

The artist's seventh studio album. Wreck Me, appeared 31 July 2020, which peaked at No. 8 on ARIA Albums Chart and No. 1 on their Country Albums Chart. Hamley determined, "you're always going to be listening to an album that is produced to high standards, that has tight songs, in which Collins will use his fantastic voice – so well suited to country music – to make sure those songs find their best expression." The album provided three singles, "Make Up", "Weekend" and "Rainy Day".

Collins was nominated for six awards at the 2024 Country Music Awards of Australia.

Discography

Studio albums

+List of studio albums, with release date and label shown Title Album details Peak chart positions AUS AUS Country Start the CarReleased: 2005 Label: Travis Collins, ABC Music, Warner Format: CD — —Travis CollinsReleased: 7 November 2011 Label: ABC Music Format: CD — —WiredReleased: 13 February 2015 Label: ABC Music, Universal Music Australia (UMA) Format: CD 26 1Hard LightReleased: 6 May 2016 Label: ABC Music, UMA Format: CD 20 2Brave & the BrokenReleased: 17 August 2018 Label: ABC Music, UMA Format: CD, digital 15 1Wreck MeReleased: 31 July 2020 Label: ABC Music, UMA Format: CD, digital 8 1 Any Less AnymoreReleased: 16 June 2023 Label: ABC Music (ABCC0024) Format: CD, digital 3 1The Band AlbumReleased: 28 March 2025 Label: ABC Music Format: CD, digital 29 3

Re-recorded albums +List of re-recorded, with release date and label shown Title Album detailsWreck Me (Acoustic Sessions)Released: 4 December 2020 Label: ABC Music, UMA Format: Digital

Extended plays

+List of extended plays, with release date and label shown Title Album details Peak chart positions AUS 2024 Any Less Anymore Best Independent Country Album or EP

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. Collins has been nominated for two awards. 2017 "Call Me Crazy" Country Work of the Year 2020 "Happy" Most Performed Country Work of the Year 2026 "Dirty Money" Most Performed Country Work of the Year ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. 2018 Brave & The Broken Best Country Album 2020 Wreck Me Best Country Album CMC Awards

The CMC Awards are awarded annually by Country Music Channel Australia.

Country Music Awards of Australia (CMAA)

Collins has won eight awards at the Country Music Awards of Australia held annually in Tamworth since 1973.

(wins only)