Virtually without peer as a guitarist and songwriter, Travis was such a unique stylist that he had an instrumental style (“Travis picking”) named after him. Only Chet Atkins comes close to the influence that Travis had on guitarists and country music.

Born in Rosewood, Kentucky, to a family of impoverished coal miners, Travis turned this experience, coupled with a phrase that Travis's father used to describe their lives, into the song “Sixteen Tons.” As a songwriter, his originals, including “Sixteen Tons,” crossed over into other musical genres as popular standards in the hands of other artists. He was also influential in the development of rock-and-roll, and recorded a number of top-ten hits and novelty songs.

Travis's first instrument was a five-string banjo, and he was lucky enough to live next door to Ike Everly, later the father of Don and Phil (the Everly Brothers), and Mose Rager, who played in a unique three-finger guitar style that developed in that part of Kentucky.

Travis's repertory soon included blues, ragtime, and popular tunes, although he paid the bills by working in the Civilian Conservation Corps as a teenager. His break came during a visit to his brother's home in Evansville, Indiana, in 1935, where his chance to entertain at a local dance resulted in membership in a couple of local bands and an appearance on a local radio station.

In 1937, he landed a permanent broadcasting gig at Cincinnati's WLW until World War II forced it to disband. As a member of the Drifting Pioneers, Travis acquired a national following, and he also began playing with Grandpa Jones and the Delmore Brothers in a gospel quartet called the Brown's Ferry Four. While touring with Jones, Travis visited a church in Cincinnati and heard the sermon that became the song “That's All.”

Travis spent a short stint in the Marines, but he was quickly discharged and returned to Cincinnati. By early 1945 Travis was in Los Angeles, where he began making appearances in Charles Starrett's Western movies and playing with Ray Whitley's Western swing band. In 1946, he released the topical song “No Vacancy” — dealing with the displacement of returning veterans — along with “Cincinnati Lou,” and earned a double-sided hit. His next major project was a concept album, Folk Songs of the Hills, which was intended to compete with Burl Ives's successful folk recordings.

Released as a set of four 78-rpm discs, the record was released in 1947, but it was considered a failure. However, it yielded several classics, among them the Travis originals “Sixteen Tons,” “Dark As a Dungeon,” and “Over by Number Nine.” It also introduced such standards as “Nine Pound Hammer,” and it became a unique document, depicting a beautiful all-acoustic solo guitar performance by this virtuoso. Using his thumb to stop the bottom two strings allowed him to create mobile upper chords that were teamed with jazzy voicings, open strings, and rolling fast arpeggios. This style inspired generations of guitarists.

WLW signed Travis to become a member of their show, called The Boone Country Jamboree. Through WLW, Travis was exposed to several musicians with whom he formed a friendship and musical collaboration. The new friends wanted to make a record but WLW prohibited their musicians from making recordings. So Travis and his friends created a recording using the pseudonym “The Sheppard Brothers.”