Look up quarter in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A quarter is one fourth, ¹⁄₄, or 25%, and may refer to:

• Quarter (country subdivision), a section or area, usually of a town
• Quarter (United States coin), valued at one-fourth of a U.S. dollar
• Quarter (Canadian coin), valued at one-fourth of a Canadian dollar
• Academic quarter (year division), a division of an academic year lasting from 8 to 12 weeks
• Academic quarter (class timing), term used by universities in various European countries for the 15 minutes between the defined start time for a lecture and the actual time it will start
• Fiscal quarter, three months of a fiscal year
• Quarter, equal to 28 pounds (or a quarter of a hundredweight) using imperial units of weight
• Quarter, equal to 4 ounces (or a quarter of a pound) using imperial units of weight
• Quarter, South Lanarkshire, a small settlement in Scotland

See also[link]

• 1/4 (disambiguation)
• Quarter days, in British and Irish tradition, one of four dates in each year on which rents, etc. were due
• Quarters (drinking game), a drinking game using the U.S. coins
• Quarterly
• Quartering (disambiguation)
• Quartering (heraldry), joining several coats of arms on one shield partitioned in four
• Quartile
• Quartier, districts in Paris
• Quartiere, a subdivision of certain Italian towns
• The Quarter at Tropicana, an entertainment and retail attraction in Atlantic City, New Jersey
• 1st Battalion 4th Marines (1/4), a unit in the United States Marine Corps
• Close quarters battle
• General quarters
• Barracks, also known as military quarters
• No quarter occurs when a victor shows no clemency or mercy and refuses to spare the life of the vanquished when they surrender at discretion

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Travis Tritt
Travis Tritt in Concert in 2009
Background information
Birth name	James Travis Tritt[1]
Born	(1963-02-09) February 9, 1963 (age 49)
Origin	Marietta, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer-songwriter Actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, banjo[2]
Years active	1989 – present
Labels	Warner Bros. Columbia Category 5
Associated acts	Gregg Brown Dana McVicker Marty Stuart Billy Joe Walker, Jr.
Website	http://www.travistritt.com/

James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American, Grammy winning, country music singer from Marietta, Georgia. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 2000s, he released two albums on Columbia Records and one for the defunct Category 5 Records. Seven of his albums (counting the Greatest Hits) are certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); the highest-certified is 1991's It's All About to Change, which is certified triple-platinum. Tritt has also charted more than forty times on the Hot Country Songs charts, including five number ones — "Help Me Hold On," "Anymore," "Can I Trust You with My Heart," "Foolish Pride" and "Best of Intentions" — and fifteen additional top ten singles. Tritt's musical style is defined by mainstream country and Southern rock influences.

He has received two Grammy Awards, both for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals: in 1992 for "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'," a duet with Marty Stuart, and again in 1998 for "Same Old Train", a collaboration with Stuart and nine other artists. In addition, he has received four awards from the Country Music Association, and has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1992.

Early life[link]

James Travis Tritt was born in Marietta, Georgia on February 9, 1963^[1] to James and Gwen Tritt.^[3] He first took interest in singing after his church's Sunday school choir performed "Everything Is Beautiful."^[4] He received his first guitar at age eight and taught himself how to play it; in the fourth grade, he performed "Annie's Song" and "King of the Road" for his class, and later got invited to play for other classrooms in his school.^[5] At age fourteen, his parents bought him another guitar, and he learned more songs from his uncle, Sam Lockhart.^[6] Later on, Tritt joined his church band, which occasionally performed at other churches nearby.^[7]

Tritt began writing music while he was attending Sprayberry High School; his first song composition, entitled "Spend a Little Time", was written about a girlfriend whom he had broken up with.^[8] He performed this song for his friends, one of whom complimented him on his songwriting skills.^[9] He also founded a bluegrass group with some of his friends, and won second place in a local tournament for playing "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys".^[10]

During his teenage years, Tritt worked at a furniture store, and later as a supermarket clerk. He lived with his mother after she and his father divorced; they re-married each other when he was eighteen.^[11] He worked at an air conditioning company while playing in clubs, but gave up the air conditioning job at the suggestion of one of his bandmates.^[12] Tritt's father thought that Tritt would not find success as a musician, while his mother thought that he should perform Christian music instead of country.^[1]

Through the assistance of Warner Bros. Records executive Danny Davenport, Tritt began recording demos. The two worked together for the next several years, eventually putting together a demo album called Proud of the Country.^[1][13] Davenport sent the demo to Warner Bros. representatives in Los Angeles, who in turn sent the demo to Warner Bros.' Nashville division, which signed Tritt in 1987.^[14] Davenport also helped Tritt find a talent manager, Ken Kragen. At first, Kragen was "not interested in taking an entry-level act," but he decided to sign on as Tritt's manager after Kragen's wife convinced him.^[15]

Musical career[link]

[edit] 1989–1991: Country Club

Tritt's contract with Warner Bros. contract, meaning that he was signed to record six songs, and three of them would be released as singles. According to the contract, he would not be signed on for a full album unless one of the three singles became a hit.^[14][16] His first single was "Country Club." Recorded in late 1988 and released in September 1989,^[17] the song spent 26 weeks on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, peaking at number nine.^[18] It was the title track to his 1990 debut album Country Club, produced by Gregg Brown. The month of its release, Tritt burst a blood vessel on his vocal cords, and had to take vocal rest for a month.^[14] Second single "Help Me Hold On" became his first number one single in 1990.^[18] The album's third and fifth singles, "I'm Gonna Be Somebody" and "Drift Off to Dream," respectively peaked at numbers two and three on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, and number one on the Canadian RPM country charts;^[19][20] "I'm Gonna Be Somebody" also went to number one on the U.S. country singles charts published by Radio & Records.^[14] "Put Some Drive in Your Country," which was released fourth, peaked at 28 on Hot Country Songs.^[18] Country Club was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in July 1991 for shipments of one million copies, and double-platinum in 1996.^[21] In 1990, he won the Top New Male Artist award from Billboard.^[2] The Country Music Association (CMA) also nominated him for the Horizon Award (now known as the New Artist Award),^[14] which is given to new artists who show have shown the most significant artistic and commercial development from a first or second album.^[22]

Brian Mansfield of Allmusic gave the album a positive review, saying that "Put Some Drive in Your Country" paid homage to Tritt's influences, but that the other singles were more radio-friendly.^[23] Giving the album a B-minus, Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly compared Tritt's music to that of Hank Williams, Jr. and Joe Stampley.^[24]

[edit] 1991–1992: It's All About to Change

In 1991, Tritt received a second Horizon Award nomination, which he won that year.^[2] He also released his second album, It's All About to Change. The album went on to become his best-selling, with a triple-platinum certification from the RIAA for shipments of three million copies.^[21] All four of its singles reached the top five on the country music charts. "Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)" and the Marty Stuart duet "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'," respectively the first and third singles, both reached number two, with the number-one "Anymore" in between. "Nothing Short of Dying" was the fourth single, with a peak at number four on Billboard;^[18] both it and "The Whiskey Ain't Working" went to Number One on Radio & Records.^[14] "Bible Belt," another cut from the album (recorded in collaboration with Little Feat), appeared in the 1992 film My Cousin Vinny (the lyrics for the song, however, were changed for the version played in the movie to match the story line). Although not released as a single, it peaked at number 72 country based on unsolicited airplay and was the b-side to "Nothing Short of Dying."^[18] "Bible Belt" was inspired by a youth pastor whom Tritt knew in his childhood.^[25]

Stuart offered "The Whiskey Ain't Workin' Anymore" to Tritt backstage at the CMA awards show, and they recorded it as a duet through the suggestion of Tritt's record producer, Gregg Brown.^[26] The duet won both artists the next year's Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.^[18] Tritt and Stuart charted a second duet, "This One's Gonna Hurt You (For a Long, Long Time)," which went to number seven in mid-1992 and appeared on Stuart's album This One's Gonna Hurt You.^[18] This song won the 1992 CMA award for Vocal Event of the Year.^[2]

In June 1992, Tritt received media attention when he criticized Billy Ray Cyrus' "Achy Breaky Heart" at a Fan Fair interview, saying that he did not think that Cyrus' song made a "statement".^[27] The following January, Cyrus responded at the American Music Awards by making reference to Tritt's "Here's a Quarter".^[28] Tritt later apologized to Cyrus, but said that he defended his opinion on the song.^[29]

[edit] 1992–1993: T-R-O-U-B-L-E and A Travis Tritt Christmas

Tritt and Stuart began a "No Hats Tour" in 1992.^[30] In August of that same year, Tritt released the album T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Its first single was "Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man," a song written by Kostas. This song, which featured backing vocals from Brooks & Dunn, T. Graham Brown, George Jones, Little Texas, Dana McVicker (who also sang backup on Tritt's first two albums), Tanya Tucker and Porter Wagoner, peaked at number four.^[18] Its follow-up, "Can I Trust You with My Heart," became Tritt's third Billboard number one in early 1993.^[18] The album's next three singles did not perform as well on the charts: the title track (a cover of an Elvis Presley song^[31]), peaked at 13, followed by "Looking Out for Number One" at number 11 and "Worth Every Mile" at number 30.^[18] T-R-O-U-B-L-E became the second album of his career to achieve double-platinum certification.^[21] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic thought that T-R-O-U-B-L-E followed too closely the formula of It's All About to Change, but said that the songs showed Tritt's personality.^[32] Nash gave the album a similar criticism, but praised the rock influences of "Looking Out for Number One" and the vocals on "Can I Trust You with My Heart."^[31]

One month after the release of T-R-O-U-B-L-E, Tritt issued a Christmas album titled A Travis Tritt Christmas: Loving Time of the Year, for which he wrote the title track.^[33] He also joined the Grand Ole Opry, a weekly stage show and radio broadcast specializing in country music performances,^[34] and filled in for Garth Brooks at a performance on the American Music Awards.^[35] By year's end, Tritt and several other artists appeared on George Jones's "I Don't Need Your Rocking Chair," which won all artists involved the next year's CMA Vocal Event of the Year award.^[36]

[edit] 1994–1995: Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof and Greatest Hits

In early 1994, after "Worth Every Mile" fell from the charts, Tritt charted at number 21 with a cover of the Eagles' "Take It Easy".^[18] He recorded this song for the tribute album Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles (released through Warner Bros.' Giant Records division), which featured country music artists' renditions of Eagles songs.^[37] When filming the music video for this song, Tritt requested that the band, which was on hiatus at the time, appear in it. This reunion inspired the Eagles' Hell Freezes Over Tour, which began that year.^[14]

His fourth album, Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof, was released that May. Its lead-off single, "Foolish Pride", went to number one, and the fourth single, "Tell Me I Was Dreaming", reached number two. In between these songs were the title track at number 22 and "Between an Old Memory and Me" (originally recorded by Keith Whitley^[38]) at number 11.^[18] The album included two co-writes with Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and guest vocals from Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams, Jr. on the cut "Outlaws Like Us".^[39] The album achieved platinum certification in December of that year, and later became his third double-platinum album.^[21] Allmusic reviewer Brian Mansfield said that Tritt was "most comfortable with his Southern rock/outlaw mantle" on it, comparing "Foolish Pride" favorably to "Anymore" and the work of Bob Seger.^[39] Alanna Nash praised the title track and "Tell Me I Was Dreaming" in her review for Entertainment Weekly, but thought that the other songs were still too similar in sound to his previous works.^[38]

1995's Greatest Hits: From the Beginning included most of his singles to that point, as well as two new cuts: the Steve Earle composition "Sometimes She Forgets" and a cover of the pop standard "Only You (And You Alone)". The former was a top ten hit at number seven, while the latter spent only eight weeks on the country charts and peaked at number 51.^[18] Greatest Hits was certified platinum.^[21]

[edit] 1996–1997: The Restless Kind

In April 1996, Tritt and Stuart charted a third duet, "Honky Tonkin's What I Do Best," which appeared on Stuart's album of the same name and peaked at 23 on the country charts. The song won both artists that year's Country Music Association award for Vocal Event, Tritt's third win in this category.^[18] The two began a second tour, the Double Trouble Tour, that year.^[14]

Tritt charted at number three in mid-1996 with "More Than You'll Ever Know," the first single from his fifth album, The Restless Kind. The album accounted for one more top ten hit, a cover of Waylon Jennings's "Where Corn Don't Grow," which Tritt took to number six in late 1996. This song's chart run overlapped with that of "Here's Your Sign (Get the Picture)," a novelty release combining snippets of comedian Bill Engvall's "Here's Your Sign" routines with a chorus sung by Tritt.^[40] "Here's Your Sign (Get the Picture)" peaked at 29 on the country charts and 43 on the Billboard Hot 100, accounting for Tritt's first entry on the latter chart.^[18] The other singles from The Restless Kind all failed to make Top Ten upon their 1997 release. "She's Going Home with Me" and "Still in Love with You" (previously the respective b-sides to "Where Corn Don't Grow" and "More Than You'll Ever Know") were the third and fifth releases, peaking at 24 and 23 on Hot Country Singles & Tracks. In between was the number eighteen "Helping Me Get Over You," a duet with Lari White.^[18]

Unlike his previous albums, all of which were produced by Gregg Brown, Tritt produced The Restless Kind with Don Was.^[41] It received positive reviews from Thom Owens of Allmusic, who said that it was the most country-sounding album of his career.^[42] Don Yates of Country Standard Time also praised it for having a more "organic" sound than Tritt's other albums.^[41]

[edit] 1998–1999: No More Looking over My Shoulder

In 1998, he and several other artists contributed to Stuart's "Same Old Train," a cut from the collaborative album Tribute to Tradition; this song charted at number 59 on Hot Country Songs and won Tritt his second Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.^[43] He also performed on Frank Wildhorn's concept album of the musical The Civil War, singing the song "The Day the Sun Stood Still".^[44] By year's end, Tritt also released his final Warner Bros. album, No More Looking over My Shoulder. It was led off by the ballad "If I Lost You," which peaked at number 29 on the country charts and number 86 on the Hot 100.^[18] Michael Peterson (who recorded for Warner Bros.' Reprise label at the time) co-wrote and sang backing vocals on the title track,^[45] which went to number 38 country in early 1999. The album's third and final single was a cover of Jude Cole's "Start the Car" (previously the b-side to "If I Lost You"), which peaked at number 52.^[18]

Late in 1999, Tritt recorded a cover of Hank Williams's "Move It On Over" with George Thorogood for the soundtrack to the cartoon King of the Hill.^[46] This cut peaked at number 66 country.

[edit] 2000–2002: Down the Road I Go

Soon after leaving Warner Bros. Records, Tritt signed to Columbia Records and released the album Down the Road I Go in 2000.^[1] He produced the album with Billy Joe Walker, Jr. The album's first release was "Best of Intentions," his fifth and final number one hit on Billboard.^[18] It was also his most successful entry on the Hot 100, where it reached number 27.^[18] The next two singles, "It's a Great Day to Be Alive" and "Love of a Woman," both peaked at number two on the country charts in 2001, followed by "Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde" at number eight. All three songs also crossed over to the Hot 100, respectively reaching peaks of 33, 39 and 55.^[18] Tritt wrote or co-wrote seven of the album's songs, including "Best of Intentions,"^[47] and collaborated with Charlie Daniels on two of them.^[48] "It's a Great Day to Be Alive" was originally recorded by Jon Randall, whose version was to have been included on an unreleased album for BNA Records in the late 1990s.^[49]

Maria Konicki Dinoia gave the album a positive review on Allmusic, saying that Tritt "hasn't lost his touch."^[47] Country Standard Time also gave a positive review, saying that it showed Tritt's balance of country and rock influences.^[50] An uncredited review in Billboard magazine called "Best of Intentions" a "gorgeous ballad," comparing it favorably to his early Warner Bros. releases.^[51]

[edit] 2002–2005: Strong Enough and My Honky Tonk History

In September 2002, Tritt released his second album on Columbia Records, Strong Enough. Its first single was "Strong Enough to Be Your Man" (an answer song to Sheryl Crow's 1993 single "Strong Enough"^[52]) which reached number 13. The only other release was "Country Ain't Country," which peaked at 26 on the country charts.^[18] William Ruhlmann gave the album a generally positive review on Allmusic, saying that he considered its sound closer to mainstream country than Tritt's previous albums.^[52]

Also in 2002, Tritt performed on an episode of Crossroads, a program on Country Music Television which pairs country acts with musicians from other genres for collaborative performances. He performed with Ray Charles.^[53] Tritt contributed guest vocals to Charlie Daniels' 2003 single "Southern Boy", and recorded a cover of Waylon Jennings' "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean" to the RCA Records tribute album I've Always Been Crazy. Respectively, these songs reached 51 and 50 on the country charts.^[18]

Tritt's tenth studio album, My Honky Tonk History, was released in 2004. This album included three charting singles: "The Girl's Gone Wild" at 28, followed by the John Mellencamp duet "What Say You" at number 21 and "I See Me" at number 32.^[18] Other songs on the album included a cover of Philip Claypool's "Circus Leaving Town" and songs written by Gretchen Wilson, Benmont Tench and Delbert McClinton.^[54] Thom Jurek rated this album favorably, saying that it was a "solid, sure-voiced outing"; he also thought that "What Say You" was the best song on it.^[54]

[edit] 2007–2010: The Storm and beyond

Tritt exited Columbia in July 2005, citing creative differences over My Honky Tonk History.^[55] He signed to the independent Category 5 Records in February 2006, and served as the label's flagship artist.^[56] In March 2007, a concert promoter in the Pittsburgh area sued Tritt, claiming he had committed to play a show, but then backed out and signed to play a competing venue. Tritt's manager denied he had ever signed a contract with the promoter.^[57] Tritt released his first single for Category 5 in May 2007: a cover of the Richard Marx song "You Never Take Me Dancing."^[58] It was included on his only album for Category 5, The Storm, which American Idol judge Randy Jackson produced.^[59] The album featured a more rhythm and blues influence than Tritt's previous works.^[58][59] "You Never Take Me Dancing" peaked at number 27 on the country charts; a second single, "Something Stronger Than Me," was released in October,^[60] but it did not chart.

Category 5 closed in November 2007 after allegations that the label's chief executive officer, Raymond Termini, had illegally used Medicaid funds to finance it.^[61] A month later, Tritt filed a $10 million lawsuit against Category 5, because the label had failed to pay royalties on the album, and failed to give him creative control on The Storm.^[62]

In October 2008, Tritt began an 11-date tour with Marty Stuart. On this tour, they performed acoustic renditions of their duets; Tritt also performed five solo shows.^[63] Tritt signed a management deal with Parallel Entertainment in December 2010.^[64]

Acting career[link]

Tritt's first acting roles that would lead to feature-film work was a role in the 1993 made-for-television movie, Rio Diablo.^[65] In 1994 Travis made a special appearance as a bull rider in the movie The Cowboy Way, which starred Woody Harrelson and Kiefer Sutherland. He also starred in a guest role on Yes Dear as a rehabilitating criminal.^[66] Two years later, Tritt appeared as himself in Sgt. Bilko, which starred Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd and Phil Hartman;^[67] Tritt's cover of "Only You (And You Alone)" appeared in the film's soundtrack.^[68] He also made an appearance in the 1997 film Fire Down Below, starring Steven Seagal and Kris Kristofferson.^[69] In September 2010, filming began on a movie called Fishers of Men, a Christian film in which Tritt will star.^[70]

Musical styles[link]

Although he had been singing since childhood, Tritt said that he began to put "a little more soul" in his voice after his church band performed at an African-American church. He said that he took interest in how African-American singers put "all these bends and sweeps and curls" in their voices, and began emulating that sound.^[7] While performing at these churches, he also took interest in gospel singers such as Andraé Crouch.^[71] Later on, he began listening to Southern rock acts such as the The Allman Brothers Band through the recommendation of a friend,^[72] as well as the bluegrass music that his uncle exposed him to.^[73] Tritt said that he found his songwriting began to develop during the creation of his demo tape, when he had written a song called "Gambler's Blues" that "felt a lot more connected to Southern rock" than his previous writings.^[74] He cites country, rock and folk as his influences.^[2] Stephen Thomas Erlewine contrasts him with contemporaries Clint Black and Garth Brooks, saying that Tritt was "the only one not to wear a [cowboy] hat and the only one to dip into bluesy Southern rock. Consequently, he developed a gutsy, outlaw image that distinguished him from the pack."^[1] Zell Miller, in the book They Heard Georgia Singing, said that Tritt has an "unerring ability to walk the narrow path between his country heritage and his rock leanings to the acclaim of the devotees of both."^[75]

Regarding his songwriting style and single choices, Tritt said that he writes "strictly from personal experiences" and does not follow a particular formula.^[76] He described "Here's a Quarter" as "one of the simplest three-chord waltzes I've ever written,"^[77] and said that label executives were reluctant to release it because they thought that it was a novelty song.^[78] Also, he was told that "I'm Gonna Be Somebody" would not be a hit because it did not contain any rhymes,^[79] and fought the release of the song "Country Club" because he did not think that it fit his style.^[80] He also said that, despite their low peaks, the more rock-influenced "Put Some Drive in Your Country" and "T-R-O-U-B-L-E" helped generate sales for their respective albums moreso than the top ten hits from those albums.^[81]

Personal life[link]

Tritt married his high school sweetheart, Karen Ryon,^[82] in September 1983, and moved into an apartment with her. They stayed together for six months, while Tritt worked at an air conditioning company and Karen at a Burger King, and divorced six months later.^[83] After going to court, Tritt was ordered to pay alimony to Karen for six months.^[84] When he was 21, he married a woman named Jodi Barnett,^[85] who was 33 at the time.^[86] He divorced her shortly after signing with Warner Bros. in 1989; the divorce finalized one month before "Country Club" was released. Tritt wrote the song "Here's a Quarter" the night he received his divorce papers.^[87]

He married Theresa Nelson on April 12, 1997.^[48] They have two sons: Tristan James (born June 16, 1999) and Tarian Nathaniel (born November 25, 2003),^[88] and one daughter, Tyler Reese (born February 18, 1998).^[48]

Political views and advocacy[link]

Tritt is a member of the Republican Party and supported George W. Bush for President in 2000. The two met in 1996 at the Republican National Convention in San Diego, California, where Tritt sang the national anthem.^[89] Tritt told Insight on the News, that he is a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights and believes the answer to crime is not gun control but criminal control. "I'm a pro-gun guy. I'm an NRA National Rifle Association member, a life member as a matter of fact. I'm more for the belief of making the punishment tougher for the criminals to start with. I think that sends much more of an incentive for people to not commit crimes of any type than taking away guns. Because you take away guns, and the next thing you know, stabbing murders are going to increase." He adds that he is "definitely pro-death penalty."^[90]

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Country Club (1990)
• It's All About to Change (1991)
• T-R-O-U-B-L-E (1992)
• A Travis Tritt Christmas: Loving Time of the Year (1992)
• Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof (1994)
• The Restless Kind (1996)
• No More Looking over My Shoulder (1998)
• Down the Road I Go (2000)
• Strong Enough (2002)
• My Honky Tonk History (2004)
• The Storm (2007)

Billboard number-one singles

• "Help Me Hold On" (1990)
• "Anymore" (1991)
• "Can I Trust You with My Heart" (1992 – 1993)
• "Foolish Pride" (1994)
• "Best of Intentions" (2000)

Awards[link]

Filmography[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Tritt, Travis; Michael Bane (1994). 10 Feet Tall and Bulletproof. Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-51847-6. 

External links[link]

• The Official Travis Tritt Website

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

Alex Grey
Born	(1953-11-29) November 29, 1953 (age 58) Columbus, Ohio
Field	Spiritual and psychedelic art

Alex Grey (born November 29, 1953) is an American artist specializing in spiritual and psychedelic art (or visionary art) that is sometimes associated with the New Age movement. Grey is a Vajrayana practitioner. His body of work spans a variety of forms including performance art, process art, installation art, sculpture, visionary art, and painting. Grey is a member of the Integral Institute. He is also on the board of advisors for the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, and is the Chair of Wisdom University's Sacred Art Department. He and his wife Allyson Grey are the co-founders of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, a non-profit church supporting Visionary Culture in Wappingers Falls, New York.

Biography[link]

Alex Grey painting.

Grey was born Alex Velzy in Columbus, Ohio on November 29, 1953, the middle child of a middle-class couple. His father was a graphic designer and encouraged his son's drawing ability. Young Alex would collect insects and dead animals from the suburban neighborhood and bury them in the back yard. The themes of death and transcendence weave throughout his artworks, from the earliest drawings to later performances, paintings and sculpture. He went to the Columbus College of Art and Design for two years (1971–73), then dropped out and painted billboards in Ohio for a year (1973–74). Grey then attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for one year, to study with the conceptual artist, Jay Jaroslav.

At the Boston Museum School he met his wife, the artist Allyson Rymland Grey.^[1] During this period he had a series of entheogenically induced mystical experiences that transformed his agnostic existentialism to a radical transcendentalism. The Grey couple would trip together on LSD. Alex then spent five years at Harvard Medical School working in the Anatomy department studying the body and preparing cadavers for dissection. He also worked at Harvard's department of Mind/Body Medicine with Dr. Herbert Benson and Dr. Joan Borysenko, conducting scientific experiments to investigate subtle healing energies. Alex's anatomical training prepared him for painting the Sacred Mirrors (explained below) and for doing medical illustration. When doctors saw his Sacred Mirrors, they asked him to do illustration work. Grey was an instructor in Artistic Anatomy and Figure Sculpture for ten years at New York University, and now teaches courses in Visionary Art with Allyson at The Open Center in New York City;^[2] Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado; the California Institute of Integral Studies and the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York.

Inside the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors.

In 1972 Grey began a series of art actions that bear resemblance to rites of passage, in that they present stages of a developing psyche. The approximately fifty performance rites, conducted over the last thirty years, move through transformations from an egocentric to more sociocentric and increasingly worldcentric and theocentric identity. The most recent performance was WorldSpirit, a spoken word and musical collaboration with Kenji Williams which was released in 2004 as a DVD.

Grey's unique series of 21 life-sized paintings, the Sacred Mirrors (on display at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in Wappingers Falls, NY), takes the viewer on a journey toward their own divine nature by examining, in detail, the body, mind, and spirit. The Sacred Mirrors present the physical and subtle anatomy of an individual in the context of cosmic, biological and technological evolution. Begun in 1979, the series took a period of ten years to complete. It was during this period that he developed his depictions of the human body that "x-ray" the multiple layers of reality, and reveal the interplay of anatomical and spiritual forces. After painting the Sacred Mirrors, he applied this multidimensional perspective to such archetypal human experiences as praying, meditation, kissing, copulating, pregnancy, birth, nursing and dying. Grey’s recent work has explored the subject of consciousness from the perspective of "universal beings" whose bodies are grids of fire, eyes and infinite galactic swirls.

A visitor appreciates a piece of art.

Renowned healers Olga Worral and Rosalyn Bruyere have expressed appreciation for the skillful portrayal of clairvoyant vision in his paintings of translucent glowing bodies. Grey's paintings have been featured in venues as diverse as the album art of Tool, The String Cheese Incident, the Beastie Boys and Nirvana, Newsweek magazine, the Discovery Channel, Rave flyers and sheets of blotter acid. His work has been exhibited worldwide, including Feature Inc., Tibet House, Stux Gallery, P.S. 1, The Outsider Art Fair and the New Museum in NYC, the Grand Palais in Paris, the Sao Paulo Biennial in Brazil. Alex has been a keynote speaker at conferences all over the world including Tokyo, Amsterdam, Basel, Barcelona and Manaus. The international psychedelic community has embraced Grey as an important mapmaker and spokesman for the visionary realm.

A large installation called Heart Net by Alex and his wife, Allyson, was displayed at Baltimore's American Visionary Art Museum in 1998-99. A mid-career retrospective of Grey's works was exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego in 1999. The large format art book, Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alex Grey has been translated into five languages and has sold over one hundred thousand copies, unusual for an art book. His inspirational book, The Mission of Art, traces the evolution of human consciousness through art history, exploring the role of an artist's intention and conscience, and reflecting on the creative process as a spiritual path.

Transfigurations is Alex's second large-format monograph, containing over 300 color and black & white images of his work. Sounds True has released The Visionary Artist, a CD of Grey's reflections on art as a spiritual practice. ARTmind is the artist's recent video exploring the healing potential of Sacred Art. Grey co-edited the book, Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics (Chronicle Books, 2002). In 2004 Grey’s VISIONS boxed set containing a portfolio of new works and Sacred Mirrors and Transfigurations, his collected works. The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, CoSM, a long-term exhibition of fifty works of transformative art by Grey opened in the Fall of 2004 in New York City and relocated to its present Hudson Valley location some years later. He lives in New York City with his wife, painter Allyson Grey, and their daughter, actress Zena Grey.

Grey was featured in the 2006 film Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within, a documentary about rediscovering an enchanted cosmos in the modern world.^[3]

Paintings[link]

Alex Grey painting.

Grey’s paintings can be described as a blend of sacred, visionary art and postmodern art. He is best known for his paintings of glowing anatomical human bodies, images that “x-ray” the multiple layers of reality. His art is a complex integration of body, mind, and spirit. The Sacred Mirrors, a life-sized series of 21 paintings, took 10 years to complete, and examines in detail the physical and metaphysical anatomy of the individual. "The inner body is meticulously rendered - not just anatomically precise but crystalline in its clarity"^[4]. Many of his paintings include detailed representations of the skeleton, nervous system, cardiovascular system, and lymphatic system. Grey applies this multidimensional perspective to paint the universal human experience. His figures are shown in positions such as praying, meditating, kissing, copulating, pregnancy, birth and death. His work incorporates many religious symbols, including auras, chakras, and icons with geometric shapes and tessellations in natural, industrial, and multicultural situations. Grey’s paintings are permeated with an intense and subtle light that is rare in art history. “It is the light that is sublime in Grey’s oeuvre - which is the most important innovation in religious light since the Baroque - and that makes the mundane beings in them seem sublime, in every realistic detail of their exquisite being”.^[4]

Philosophy[link]

Grey has also made his own contribution to the philosophy of art in his book The Mission of Art (1998). Therein, he promotes the possibility of the mystical potential of art: he argues that the process of artistic creation can (and should) play a role in the enlightenment of the artist. For him, the process of artistic creation holds the potential of transcending the limitations of the mind and more fully expressing the divine spirit. He also believes that art can induce within the viewer an elevated state wherein spiritual states of being are attained.

In an interview with Ken Wilber for Integral Naked, Grey described an experience of shared hallucination between himself and his wife, which led him to believe in spirituality and spiritual practice.

Reception[link]

Painting and music groups[link]

Grey's artwork has often been used by music groups on their album covers.

• An album of David Byrne remixes called Visible Man featured Grey's artwork.
• Michael Hedges's album Torched features one of Grey's "Holy Fire" paintings on the cover.
• The liner notes for the Nirvana album In Utero included a reproduction of Grey's painting Muscle System (Pregnant Woman) among a series of photographs of the band.
• The cover of The String Cheese Incident's album Untying the Not features Grey's work Cosmic Elf, commissioned specifically for the album.
• Hip-hop group the Beastie Boys featured Grey's "Gaia" painting as well as his "Vision Crystal" image inside the booklet of their album Ill Communication.
• The metal band Tool has featured Grey's artwork as album artwork for their album Lateralus. He also executed the stage design for Tool for the associated tour that included massive reproductions of the album artwork as well as provide the artwork for the 2006 Tool album 10,000 Days and the computer-generated graphics for the video of the single "Vicarious". Tool also used a few paintings from Alex on their 2007 tour of Europe, Asia, and North America.
• In 2004 a live multimedia performance was recorded as a DVD titled Worldspirit - featuring the animated artwork and live spoken word of Alex Grey, coupled with the project direction and live music of Kenji Williams.
• The alleged mystical properties of Grey's artwork are discussed in Stuart Davis' 2006 DVD Between the Music.
• DJ/Producer Bassnectar has used Alex Grey's artwork for multiple album covers.
• In 2008 and 2009, TELESMA performed Winter Solstice concerts at which Alex and Allyson Grey appeared on stage and painted new original pieces. A DVD of their first collaborative Winter Solstice concert with TELESMA called Hearing Vision's LIVE was released in June 2010. On December 18, 2010, Alex and Allyson Grey again "live painted" new original pieces with TELESMA during the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM) Full Moon Solstice Celebration.

In the media[link]

Grey's artwork has been featured on the cover of Sub Rosa, Newsweek, High Times, Shaman's Drum, Shambhala Sun, Juxtapoz, Vision, Gnosis and The Healing Power of Neurofeedback: The Revolutionary LENS Technique for Restoring Optimal Brain Function.

The Discovery Channel included Grey in a feature on art and creativity in altered states.

The Viking Youth Power Hour interviewed Alex & Allyson Grey about the role of sacred art, the holy shenanigans of Burning Man, and the development of his process.

Grey's work and his Chapel of Sacred Mirrors gallery in New York City are featured in a 2006 DVD release CoSM The Movie, directed by Nick Krasnic.

Grey talks about his personal philosophy in the 2009 film Cognition Factor.^[5]

In Variable Star, a science fiction novel written by Spider Robinson based on a story outline by Robert A. Heinlein, Robinson devotes several pages to his protagonist's discovery of Grey's Sacred Mirrors and Progress of the Soul series, and to using them to enhance meditation.^[6]

Collections[link]

Alex Grey explaining his work.

• Transfigurations
• Visions, 2003, a 2,000-copy limited edition collection of Grey's two hardcover books and a set of prints, all in an illustrated wooden case which folds out into an 'altar'

Publications[link]

• 1990 - Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alexander Grey (Alex Grey) (Inner Traditions - Bear & Company) ISBN 0-89281-314-8
• 2001 - Transfigurations (Alex Grey) (Inner Traditions - Bear & Company) ISBN 0-89281-851-4
• 2001 - The Mission of Art (Alex Grey) (Shambhala Publications Inc.) ISBN 1-57062-545-X
• 2006 - True Visions (Erik Davis and Pablo Echaurren) (Betty Books) ISBN 88-902372-0-1
• 2007 - Metamorphosis: 50 Contemporary Surreal, Fantastic and Visionary Artists (beinArt) ISBN 978-0-9803231-0-8
• 2008 - Art Psalms

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alex Grey

• Official website
• Alex Grey at the Internet Movie Database
• Chapel of Sacred Mirrors home page
• Tripatourium.com, published the only two officially licensed Alex Grey Blotter Art prints.