Bill Travis hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and performs the songs of MUSHKAT, his own brand of existentialist folk-pop jingles, in 3 languages. Since 1994, he’s been a part of 3 hardcore outfits (SAUSAGE, POPLAR MECHANICS, and DRUNKEN PROPHET), 3 pop duos (SMOOCH, TWEED, and THE MARY BEAN), a jazz band, a rockabilly trio, a prog-rock outfit (THE GIVEN ELEMENTS), a Flamenco band (DURO y OSCURO) and, most recently, his current ensemble, THE ALAMO DEFENDERS, and he has lived in 9 cities, on 3 different continents.

He finally settled down on Canada’s east coast in 2001, close to family, making some musical roots, in preparation for his debut CD, PERPETUAL MOTION MUSIC (2004) (…available as an $8.88 download at mushkat.zunior.com)

The album features guest performances by Chico Connors, Morgan Cadene, Jeff Brown and more. Bill plays the full gamut of instruments required to create the atmospheres through which he delivers his messages, including guitars, keys, whistles, charango, and percussion. Most of the tracks on the album were recorded at home in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

“Perpetual Motion Music moves effortlessly from truth to tale, opening our ears and our eyes. It's catchy yet unpretentious, an album that you will want to put in your pocket and take with you wherever you go.” ( -Evan Kolvoord )

Much like his full-length “Perpetual Motion Music”, the follow-up EP, LUNAR NEW YEAR (2005), has a home-made indie feel, with most instruments (including 3-part trumpet impersonations, bass clarinet, guitars, percussion and more) played by Bill himself, plus a handful of guest performances by close friends; it differs from the debut, however, in its production – to give Mushkat fans a different flavour, he left the mastering of this project to someone else’s ears (folksinger/songwriter/producer Ronok Sarkar), with pleasing results.
(…a $5.55 download at mushkat.zunior.com)

He is currently working on his second full-length CD, CALENDAR, due for release in 2007, performing the songs live around the Halifax area with the help of THE ALAMO DEFENDERS (Erin Costelo, Nick McInnis, and Chris Brown).
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