nellietigertravis.com
Nellie “Tiger” Travis packed the dance floor at Mr. J’s Lounge Sunday with her closing song, “Mr. Sexy Man.” The hooky hit has been a staple on certain weekend blues and Southern soul specialty shows on Milwaukee radio and at Northwest Side clubs for more than a few weeks. It was likely the way most in attendance for Travis’ early evening buffet matinee concert expected her to wrap up her debut performance in the city, even after a career of more than six albums extending back to the early ’00s in nearby Chicago.
Glamorously blonde, but earthy and approachable, Travis is racking up YouTube hits for the “Mr. Sexy Man” video’s depiction of a night of grown folks clubbing and the song’s attendant line dance instructional video. Some of her back catalogue addresses the sexual politics of her core audience even more overtly. “Baby Mama Drama” tells of the pitfalls of having a reformed serial inseminator for a beau, while the feisty “Slap Yo’ Weave Off” confronts a romantic rival with an unambiguous ultimatum. Though Travis has been compared by some and has sung musical tributes to late blues queen Koko Taylor, she has more than a bit of Tina Turner’s vocal fire and some of Denise LaSalle’s gritty sass.
The naturalistic synthetic backing of so much of her Southern soul-oriented work possesses a certain charm when pumping through AM radio speakers or an inner city lounge’s speakers. Travis’ live band, however, greatly fleshed out her sound with electric guitar and bass, drum kit and a couple of keyboards played without sequencers, possibly prompting her to more passionate delivery. Prior to her hitting the stage and while she took a break to slip into more comfortable shoes, Travis’ players proved themselves a solid unit unto themselves, assaying dusties by Tyrone Davis, Prince and others.
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It’s a bit of a shame Travis didn’t sing more of her often narrative-rich originals. Her opening gambit of interpreting familiar Staple Singers, Tracy Chapman, Ben E. King and Sam Cooke numbers with some crowd participation warmed up the nearly full house. As a personable performer and a bright feminine presence in a genre perhaps overly awash in masculinity, Travis should have an open invitation 90 miles or so north of her home base for a long while to come.
