Travis Hay loves music.
Born on the East Coast and raised on a healthy diet of early 80s hip hop and classic rock, he found himself consuming music at an early age. After spending 10 years of his life in the Deep South he moved west with his family, finally landing in Seattle. It was in Seattle where Travis’ relationship with music continued to evolve and he found himself wanting to continuously learn and write about all things rock, rap, hip hop, pop and even country.
As a fan he prefers his music local and loud. But as a critic he says he has learned to appreciate the gamut of all things pop, from Jay-Z and the Jackson 5 to Radiohead and the Raconteurs.
He began covering the Seattle music scene in 2001. In 2003 while attending the University of Washington and pursuing a degree in journalism he started writing freelance reviews for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He has since written about more than 200 musicians for the P-I and in 2006 he started the music blog Ear Candy,which won a first place Excellence in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists in the best specialized blog category.
He currently lives in Wenatchee, the Apple Capital of the World, where he works at The Wenatchee World as that newspaper’s online reporter. As a journalist he has also covered the state Legislature in Olympia for The Spokane Spokesman-Review and handled city government, cops, courts, health and entertainment duties for The Ellensburg Daily Record as well as written multiple lifestyles and features stories for the P-I.
Beyond the print pages of the P-I, Ear Candy and Spin the Black Circle, you can check out some of Travis’ works of music journalism on threeimaginarygirls.com, the self-professed “sparkly indie-pop press” of Seattle.
