Travis Meeks - Days of the New

Days of the New is a post-grunge rock band from Charlestown, Indian that formed in 1995 and later relocated to Louisville, Kentucky. The band consists of guitarist/singer/songwriter Travis Meeks, and a variety of supporting musicians. They are best known for the hit singles "Touch, Peel and Stand" and "The Down Town," both from their self-titled debut album.

A demo version of the song "Freak" on the Harvest Showcase Volume 3, a compilation of Louisville area artists. This recording features a solo performance by Travis Meeks, but is credited to Days of the New. Jesse Vest and Matt Taul are listed as band members in the liner notes, although they do not appear on this recording. Guitarist Todd Whitener joined the band after this.

The band recorded its debut album in October and November 1996. The first Days of the New album, titled "Days of the New" but frequently called "Orange" after the color of the disc and liner notes, was released in 1997, selling 1.5 million copies worldwide. Three songs from this album were hits: "Touch, Peel and Stand", "The Down Town", and "Shelf in the Room". "Touch, Peel and Stand" was number one on Billboard's Rock Chart for 17 weeks; "The Down Town" and "Shelf in the Room" were each top 40 hits.

Shortly after releasing the album, the band went on tour with Metallica and Jerry Cantrell in 1998. Soon after concluding the tour, however, the band split up. Todd Whitener, Matt Taul and Jesse Vest would go on to form Tantric while Meeks formed a new band under the Days of the New name.

Just one year after the original band's breakup, Meeks had assembled a new Days of the New and recorded a second album. Titled Days of the New, and often referred to as "Green" so as to eliminate confusion between this album and the band's other self-titled releases, this album was released in 1999 and had a variety of different styles of music. Many of the album's songs contained intros and codas to seamlessly carry into the next song.

Critics were fairly enthusiastic, but the album sold poorly compared to the first, selling around 450,000 copies. Only one song, "Enemy," was a major hit, and the 2nd single "Weapon and the Wound" failed to match its predecessor.

After touring to support the band's second album, Meeks returned to the studio with a new band. Still using the Days of the New name, the third album incorporated aspects of the previous two; much of the energy from the first album had returned, combined with orchestral interludes similar to the second album. In keeping with the previous albums' names, the third album is also called Days of the New, or "Red." The first single "Hang On To This" charted fairly and was the most added song on rock radio the week it was released. However, the album was released two weeks after 9/11 and, with very little promotion, only sold 90,000 copies.

Travis Meeks has gone on to many individual projects; he contributed to the Doors tribute album Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors as lead vocalist on a cover of "The End" and "L.A. Woman". After appearing on an episode of A&E's Intervention, where his family and friends convinced him to seek help for his addiction to methamphetamine, Meeks entered rehab. Now sober, Meeks is currently looking for a new record label, and is likely to begin the recording process for a fourth self-titled Days of the New record, "Purple."