Travis rock it up for new tour

Scottish Indie heroes Travis are set to unveil tracks from their brand new album at the Indian Summer 2008 one-day music festival in Shrewsbury next month before heading off on a tour which also includes Wolverhampton's Wulfrun Hall.

Having scored a No. 1 on the indie singles chart with their limited edition J. Smith EP, Travis's sixth album, Ode To J Smith, will be released on September 29, marking a rockier direction for the band which harks back to their 1997 debut album Good Feeling

It is preceded by a new single, Something Anything, on September 15.

The Indian Summer concert is in The Quarry, Shrewsbury on September 5 and sees Travis headlining, with support from Guillemots and further acts to be announced.

Travis will then head out on tour later in the month, arriving at the Wulfrun Hall on September 30.

Travis are Fran Healy, Dougie Payne, Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose. They have released five studio albums, the most recent being The Boy with No Name in 2007.

Once named after the Beatles song Glass Onion, they changed their name to Travis after the character played by Harry Dean Stanton in the film Paris, Texas.

The new album marks the debut of the band's own Red Telephone Box record label following their split from their long-time label Independiente.

Ode To J Smith was recorded in just two weeks earlier this year. Fran Healy has revealed that all the songs on the album "are written about nameless characters or to nameless characters".

A spokesman for Indian Summer organisers Mister Jones Productions said: "Our aim was to put Shrewsbury on the map as a venue for serious artists to come and perform, but to be able to announce a band like Travis exceeds all of our expectations."

• Travis play Indian Summer at The Quarry, Shrewsbury, on Friday September 5. Tickets are £35 plus booking and transaction fees.

• They play The Wulfum Hall, Wolverhampton on Tuesday September 30. Tickets are £18.50 plus booking and transaction fees.

• Tickets are available from www.ticketmaster.co.uk

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