Trawick has been playing plenty of his new songs in concert, and several of them — including the soon-to-be-released “Love Song,” are winning plenty of early buzz.
“Most of my songs are very specific in content,” Trawick said by phone from his Clarendon home just before playing some gigs throughout the East Coast. “Not that I’m going for this, but ‘Love Song’ is the most radio-friendly of the songs I’ve written.”
That may be true, but Trawick’s songs — which incorporate genres from folk to bluegrass to rock to hip-hop — are all very listenable. It’s easy to understand why he counts singer-songwriter Bob Schneider as a major influence; like Schneider’s, Trawick’s songs are all personal stories a la Neil Young, with plenty of alt punch such as one might find in Beck’s music.
Since Trawick released his 2006 debut, “How to Build a Life With a Lemonade Stand,” his music has become even more mature with Trawick changing some of the conditions, which he observes.
“I write a lot of ex-girlfriend songs because a lot of that is what I’ve experienced,” he said. “But when I wrote ‘Love Song,’ that was written with the idea of a musician or a businessman on the road wishing he was back home. [I didn’t experience it], but the lyrics are the real truth, something we’ve all experienced.”
Trawick is a master of pulling music and lyrics from his everyday experiences, making the songs something of an extension of his personal communication.
As a child growing up in Leesburg, Trawick first played the piano and saxophone — until he discovered his father’s old, “classic, no-brand-name guitar” the summer before ninth grade. Friends tease Trawick about the story, which includes unearthing a pair of women’s black satin underwear in the case that his dad had used to polish his guitar.
“I suppose all my friends always joked that is what inspired me,” Trawick said. “What really inspired me was seeing myself grow as a musician and a storyteller. … I’m not very fun at parties because
if you see me with a guitar and
ask, ‘Can you play [classic rock songs]?’ I say, ‘No, can’t play that. But I can play about 150 songs that I wrote.’ ”
