Travis, one of Scotland's finest exports along with Trainspotting, whisky and Idlewild, are a quartet guitar band from Glasgow made up by Fran Healy (lead singer/songwriter), Dougie Payne (bass), Andy Dunlop (lead guitarist) and Neil Primrose (drums).

Boasting three former art students (Fran, Dougie and Andy used to attend the Glasgow School of Art), Travis join the likes of The Beatles (with John Lennon), Queen (with Freddy Mercury) and Blur (with Graham Coxon) in having art students-turned successful musicians.

Travis were formerly "Glass Onion" but were Dougie-less and featured two brothers with the surname "Martyn" on keyboards and bass. "Glass Onion" had released an EP back in 1993 featuring the songs "Dream On", "The Day Before", "Free Soul" and "Whenever She Comes Around", but, as with all great bands, the Martyn brothers fulfilled the "Pete Best-I-left-the-band-just-before-they-found-fame" role in March 1996 and the rest, as they say, is history.

Taking the name of the Harry Dean Stanton character in the Wim Wenders' cult 1984 film "Paris, Texas", they signed up to Andy Macdonald's then newly formed label, Independiente, and "Good Feeling", their debut album, which bore the singles "All I Want To Do Is Rock", "U16 Girls", "Tied To The 90s", "Happy" and "More Than Us", entered the UK charts at No. 9 on the 20th of November 1997. It gained critical acclaim from the likes of NME, Melody Maker and Select. The release of the album coincided with Travis being the support act on Oasis' "Be Here Now" Tour in September 1997 where praise and attention grew for the boys from fans and critics alike.

But it was with the release of "The Man Who" in late May 1999 that made the nation rub their eyes and ears and pay attention to the men who call themselves Travis. Entering the charts at No. 5 on the 5th of June, the album spawned hits such as "Writing To Reach You", "Driftwood", "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" and "Turn", but it was the simple tune of "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?", the national institution known simply as Glastonbury and some falling H2O that catapulted the Glaswegian guitar goliaths into the megastars that they are today. The boys managed to "beat the hex" at Glasto 2000 but regained their rain dance powers at Party In The Park.

With two Brit Awards (Best Band and Best Album for "The Man Who"), a Q Award (Best Single for "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?"), a Brat (Best Artist), numerous Melody Maker 1999 end-of-year awards (Best Album for "The Man Who", Best Single for "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?", Best New Bands and Haircut of the Year) and two Ivor Novello Awards (Songwriter of the Year - 2000 and Best Contemporary Song for "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?") under their hats and the single "Coming Around", the first release from then third and as yet unreleased album reaching No. 3 on the 12th of June 2000, things are certainly "coming around" for Travis, especially as they are becoming more well-known and appreciated in the US, being one of a few British bands to have discovered how to break into the US market. Name another band who have had a No. 1 album in not only two different years and two different centuries, but two different millenniums...

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