01/30/2026
NEW ALBUM ALERT š¶ The Normalization of Deviance available on bandcamp this Sunday! Pre-order now. The first of five albums from my project āLineageā, set to release this year.
https://travisswanson.bandcamp.com/album/the-normalization-of-deviance
Lineage deals with lineal descent from an ancestor or pedigree. In Biology, itās defined as a sequence of species each of which is considered to have evolved out of its predecessor. For me, it is dealing with this matter, musically speaking. In 2017, I did a project entitled āWhen itās Time To Say Goodbyeā, which was, in retrospect, a great opportunity at learning about recording and composing. However, artistically, I was still very raw and in pursuit of developing my own musical language. The development of this language would take several years and some serious introspection. In 2025, I found myself with a collection of compositions that represented the development of this language. Furthermore, it represented the last several years of my life, and how these life experiences have shaped my perspective of music, and more importantly, the phenomenon of existence.
In the past several years, I have explored parts of my musical self that I was unaware of. From contemplating the early sounds of Hank Williams that I was exposed to in my Papaās truck as a child to the heavy sounds of Fugazi, which I first heard as a four year old being baby sat by my cousin, who happened to be a DJ for public radio at the time. For the longest time, the music of Coltrane, Bird, and Monk were the scriptures. However, the more I followed my intuition, the more I found myself traveling further out of the ātraditionā and towards the work of some of our modern music innovators like Henry Threadgill and Anthony Braxton. It was within this period of study that all of these disparate styles converged into what I would now call my musical language. I began studying country singers like Waylon Jennings, John Conlee, and Lefty Frizell to find new ways of phrasing. I studied the music of Thelonious Monk and all of its intricacies getting together about half of his compositions to date. The music of Leo Brouwer, and equally important, his approach to the guitar and its harmonic secrets were also a major inspiration. As a composer, I honed my craft and studied the great composers of the modern classical era and note Bartok, Stravinsky, and Messiaen as influences in this project.
On one hand, there was a lot of technical practice and theoretical implementation. On the other hand, there was this expanding consciousness to musicās existence in the natural world. Often, I find myself immersed in the counter-point of bird calls and the rhythms of swaying trees. Within nature, many compositional ideas emerge. Many of the pieces in the lineage project come from the natural world as source material. Thus, it was logical for me to reach out to someone I consider family for the art work for this project. As I reflected on my art, I began to see the similarities to Michael Lettsā visual art. We both love endurance. He is an avid mountain biker, and we both come from blue collar backgrounds. My family were all stone masons and his were all drywallers. Yet, despite our blue collar Upper Peninsula roots, we both found ourselves enamored with the natural world and abstraction as artists. Not to mention, I spent many formative years playing blues with Mike, who also happens to be one groovy guitar player.
The large scope of this project was directly inspired by my love and passion for ultra trail running. Concepts like topography, distance, and pace became catalysts for musical ideas. Participating in these long distance events, I began to think about how the preparation to run far in the woods could be translated into an āultra recordingā project. For most, the idea of running beyond a marathon seems unthinkable, yet, with consistent training and dedication, you can find yourself crossing the finish line. For this project, Jordan Richards (bass) and I worked on the material every week at our weekly gig at Mammoth Distilling here in Grand Rapids. Once monthly, Joe Miller (drums) would come up from Kalamazoo and we would work through the large book of music. Interestingly enough, this also highlights a connection to Western Michigan University, where both Jordan and Joe studied, and I currently teach. After a few months, we were in a position to lineup on race day and take it one song/one mile at a time with Josh Kaufman at Local Legend Recording Studio. These five albums were recorded over the course of two days with only a few second takes of tunes, and absolutely no edits or overdubs. The idea was to line up and take what the day gave us and hope that our preparation would allow us to make it to the finish line. These recordings are a testament to our musicianship, artistry, and our endurance.
Regardless of the source material, everything comes from something, and thus, has a lineage or line to trace. This project comes from many places, and the result is an artistic freedom that I have dreamed of ever since I embarked on this journey. Lineage will consist of five distinctive albums entitled:
1. The Normalization of Deviance
2. Bramble
3. Ludic
4. Traps
5. Papaās Truck
Each of these albums represents a traceable path for me as a composer, improviser, and human. Iām incredibly proud of what we were able to accomplish, and I sincerely hope you dig āLineageā
