Year performed at 4 Peaks:
Website: travisehrenstrom.com
Travis Ehrenstrom was lucky enough to grow up a traditional, small-town American kid in rural Central Oregon. As he reached middle school, music replaced sports as his dreams took on a new tone. An older brother began passing along his roots-rock interest in artists like Dave Matthews Band, Counting Crows, Bob Dylan and Steve Earle. Travis coupled these acts with his long-time love of songwriters Paul Simon and Jackson Browne and began to create his own sound. From there, Travis wasted no time in developing himself as an artist.
Travis taught himself to play the guitar at age 14, and began writing songs a couple years later. While still in high school, Travis started his first band, National Theater Project, and began to gig around town. Travis’s music was well-received by the creative and encouraging environment into which he was born. Upon graduating from high school, Travis rounded up some talented friends and headed to Santa Cruz’s Ridgetop Sound Studios to record his first album, Somewhere in Between, produced by Brent Alan.
That year, Travis added to his musical resume by being part of the opening act for the Blind Boys of Alabama at the Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend, Oregon. He also performed at Connor Byrne and Q Cafe in Seattle, Washington, the Santa Monica Pier Folk Festival in California, and at North Park University in Chicago, Illinois.
A short stint at Portland State University only solidified Travis’s desire as he dropped out to pursue music as a full-time career. Travis toured nationally as a solo artist before joining Noah Gundersen and the Courage. The Courage toured nationally as well, opening for such acts as Josh Ritter and Kimya Dawson. 2011 saw The Courage break up and Travis move back to Central Oregon.
Two years later, in 2013, Travis successfully funded a Kickstarter campaign for his album, Remain A Mystery. The self-produced album took nine months to record under the watchful eye of co-producer, Keith Banning. As a result of their perfectionism, the album was selected as a top 10 album of the year by the Bend Bulletin.
After taking time away from music in 2015, Ehrenstrom returned in 2017 with a new six-piece band (TEB) that focused more on a jam/fusion style sound.
In 2018 TEB toured the Pacific Northwest, highlighted by inclusion at the 4 Peaks Music Festival.
The summer of 2018 brought TEB’s first studio release “Something on the Surface.” The album was released to much critical acclaim and was selected as a top release of the year by multiple media outlets.
In late 2018 Ehrenstrom teamed up with producer Casey Parnell to record the “Northwest Americana” EP. This EP was a collection of songs inspired by early americana music and the folk tradition.
For 2019, Ehrenstrom announced a new creative arts project with his wife (Courtney Bruguier) titled “Our Creative States.” The couple is traveling across the United States and Ehrenstrom plans to release a song that he writes and records from every state they visit. In addition to releasing a new song for every state Ehrenstrom has been contributing a lifestyle column for the Bend Bulletin, documenting the couples travels through the US and the meaning behind each state song.