A Music Career On The Rise: Bloomfield native touring the world

Bloomfield native Travis Feaster (Submitted photo)

He had boyhood dreams of a baseball career, but a leg injury left him looking for other options.

Feaster took a year off and tried several things like working in a nursing home, a plastics factory, and a pork plant.

Nothing fit and nothing excited him.

His new niche came from music and that's how the 1996 North Daviess High School graduate is earning a living these days.

Feaster, who grew up in Bloomfield and moved to the Odon area after he finished the 10th grade, is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the WT Feaster Band, an up-and-coming blues/rock band in Indianapolis.

The group, which got together about five years ago, recorded its first album "Long Overdue" in 2007.

"All of it is original work, except for a song that was written by a friend of mine (Erick Sims) from Odon ("The Devil's Daughter")," Feaster said.

These days the band is a stage regular at the popular downtown Indy nightspot, The Slippery Noodle.

"We play there two or three times a month. We're definitely one of the regular bands there," he said.

His bandmates include drummer Jake Iseminger of Kokomo, bassist Austin Shearer of Frankfort, and J. Wesley Smith of Indianapolis on the keyboards.

The group also plays in a variety of clubs, bars, festivals and have toured across the country as well as internationally.

Feaster's music is a bridge between rock and blues. He listens to music of all kinds, including songs written before he was born.

On stage, Feaster's Fender Stratocaster guitar screams with a sound influenced by blues greats like Albert King, Bill Perry, Junior Wells, Alvin Lee, and rockers Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix.

"I like to listen to song-oriented artists. One of my favorite artists is a guy named Tony Luca. I love jazz," Feaster said.

Click here to see WT Feaster Band on video:

W.T. Feaster Band - Born Under A Bad Sign

W.T. Feaster Band | MySpace Music Videos

The group has been on two tours in England, where they drew rave reviews from a growing fan base.

Today, Feaster, who studied music for a couple of years at Vincennes University, is regarded by some as one of the best blues/rock guitarist around.

That's pretty amazing for Feaster to comprehend himself when he says he never had played music before picking up a guitar less than a decade ago.

His only previous musical experience was playing the saxophone for two years in the Bloomfield Elementary School band.

"It (music) was one of those things that I really had no interest in or anything like that until I had nothing to do. I lived in Odon and most of my friends were still from Bloomfield and a lot of times it was just hard for me to catch up with them. I just kind of picked up the guitar," Feaster recalled. "As soon as I picked up the instrument it kind of like changed my life. It really has, good, bad or ugly."

Travis Feaster is making a name for himself with the WT Feaster Band based in Indianapolis. (Submitted photo)

While learning his trade on the Hoosier music scene, Feaster has established a loyal following of fans in a relatively short amount of time while appearing at Midwest festivals and other performance venues.

In July, the band made its second tour of the United Kingdom where he performed on the main stage in Maryport, England Music Festival.

Blues Wax Magazine had a good review of the group's UK tour.

"WT Feaster Band from Indianapolis are generally unknown to British blues fans despite having blazed the pub trail at last year's festival to rave reviews ... Feastermania is about to enter the blues vocabulary given the number of fans from all over the UK."

Feaster, who resides with is wife, Stacy, in Indianapolis, noted, "We had a lot of fun and I do think it (the tour) was a real success."

The band is hopeful of booking a series of UK festivals in the coming year.

Feaster, who gets back to the Greene-Daviess county areas as often as he can to visit his mother, Montise Craig in Odon and sister, Britt Miller in rural Bloomfield, is a little taken back with the group's success.

Click on the following link to see more of WT Feaster Band on stage:

W.T. Feaster Band - Hey Joe

W.T. Feaster Band | MySpace Music Videos

He said he would have never dreamed to be playing and teaching guitar professionally.

Now, he sees nothing but good days ahead for the band.

"I'm one of these guys who thinks big. In the long run, I honestly see us doing huge theaters and stuff like that. In the short-term I see us focusing on recording the next album. We'll probably start on that in the next few months. I want to have it done before April,"

The band is "shopping around" for a record label company and there is considerable interest from recording firms in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Feaster is encouraged about what the future holds.

"My expectations of myself and the band are up there with my heroes. I feel like I should be able to do the same. I just have to keep working hard at it."

To learn more about the WT Feaster Band go to the following link:

http://www.myspace.com/wtfeaster.