Merle Travis ( November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and musician. Born Merle Robert Travis in Rosewood, Kentucky, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977. Some of the songs he wrote or performed include: " Sixteen Tons", "So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed", and "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette"; however, it is his masterful guitar playing that he is best known for today. "Travis picking", a style of guitar picking, is named after him.
Merle Travis was raised in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, the same coal mining county mentioned in the John Prine song "Paradise." Merle became interested in the guitar early in life, and he originally played one made by his brother. Merle reportedly saved his money to buy a guitar that he had window-shopped for some time.
There were several local guitar players that drew Merle's attention. Mose Rager was his main inspiration. He played a thumb and index finger picking style method which essentially created a solo style that blended lead lines and rhythmic bass plucked by the thumb (equipped with a thumbpick), similar to the style Merle developed.
This guitar style captivated many white guitarists in the region; most notable was Kennedy Jones, its first great local exponent. A part-time barber and coal miner named Mose Rager was a disciple of Jones's, as was Ike Everly, the father of Don and Phil, who also used this method. Young Travis learned from both.
In 1936, he performed "Tiger Rag" on a local radio amateur show while visiting his older brother in Evansville, Indiana, leading to offers of work with local bands. He then spent a brief period with the better-known Clayton McMichen's Georgia Wildcats, before connecting with the Drifting Pioneers who performed on WLW in Cincinnati.