Cover photo © 2025 Jennifer Noble

Though Nellie Travis’s road to success has been rough, her childhood was filled with the kind of familial love that provided her the foundation to withstand disappointments with a character-building drive. It has held her in good stead, and she has carried her brand of tough love throughout her formative years up to the present. Her trajectory from the little all-black town of Mound Bayou, MS known as the “Jewel of the Delta” to Los Angeles to Chicago has been well-documented in the Oct. 4, 2012 and Aug. 1, 2017 issues of Blues Blast Magazine and is now chronicled in her memoir, “The Life Of A Blues Diva Told By A Southern Girl.”

Catching up with her five years after her move to Atlanta, one might say after enjoying her recent appearance in the Windy City, that Blues woman Nellie “Tiger” Travis has mellowed. Somewhat. Read further.

We caught Ms. Travis’s performance at the University of Chicago’s Logan Center for the Arts “Southern Soul” concert on a cold and blustery February night and her hot-buttered Blues went a long way to easing the outside chill. Dressed all in white – sequined pants and a diaphanous blouse – with its crisp summer vibe, Ms. Travis gave a warm and welcoming performance.

Nellie was back. Back in town, back after the Covid era, back on our song list. And better than ever. Though suffering from a severe bout of laryngitis on her arrival only the night before (“I didn’t think I’d be able to sing tonight”), her voice at showtime was full and strong. And her stage command powerful, yet surprisingly casual. Halfway through her set she kicked off her heels and went barefoot because she felt like it, even on that wintery night. She finished her set with a rousing finale, shoeless and unfettered.

Nellie – one of the premier Blues and R&B singers in the land – looked great, sounded great and it felt great to hear her again after her absence from Chicago. We couldn’t wait to reconnect to find out more from her. How has she been, how has the move affected her, what were the reasons for moving, when can we see her perform again? And when can we expect a new CD?

We found Nellie in a reflective mood as she shared her history. Chicago had been a place of much growth after the tragic death of her mother during a performance event for Koko Taylor. Taylor virtually adopted Ms. Travis and became her mentor. Later, influential Chicago WVON radio DJ Pervis Spann crowned Nellie “Queen of Chicago Blues” after Koko Taylor’s death in 2009, which had deep meaning since it had first belonged to Ms. Taylor.

“Oh, I was blessed to inherit that mantle, and I took it to heart. Koko had meant everything to me.”

After these of ups and downs in the Windy City, Travis felt the winds of change beneath her wings and decided on relocating.

“Though Chicago was good to me, I moved to Atlanta in 2019, just before Covid hit. I have certain ambitions that I’m still working on, though some have changed.”

“You know, Tyler Perry’s here in Atlanta with his film production company and all. And I can’t say that my move here didn’t have anything to do with that fact. It started one day before we were leaving Paris and I’m looking at my Facebook page and everybody’s saying, ‘Oh, Nellie, Tyler Perry’s talking about you.’ And I’m going like, ‘Yeah, right. Tyler Perry.’ And they’re saying, ‘No, really.’ So I said, ‘He’s probably talking about the rapper Nelly,” she laughed.

“So I Skyped my daughter-in-law and asked her what was going on. Sure enough, she found an interview clip from the Steve Harvey radio show. Kym Whitely was interviewing Tyler as his character Medea and asked him, ‘What is it you’re doing right now, my dear?’ And Medea says, ‘I’m working now with this artist called Nellie “Tiger” Travis and she has a song called Mr. Sexy Man.’”

“Then he started singing some of the lyrics – Hey, Mr. Sexy Man, what ‘cho name is? and said that he loves that song. And, oh my God, it just blew my head up. Now I use that clip as an introduction every time I sing that song!”

While she admits she hasn’t met the movie mogul, she says she’s seen him in town.

“I have some friends who work over at his studio, so I could go visit him. But I’m happy for this sound clip. He gave me a shout-out; he did that for me,” she says appreciatively.

Travis’s relocation has also not come without longing for connections.

“I do wish my sons would have come to Atlanta with me because they could have been a big help. But, you know, they got their lives. My oldest son and my baby son are in Chicago. My middle son is in California now and he has the oldest kids. I have two granddaughters that are in college. My baby son is eventually going to come. He knows a lot of the computer and media stuff to help me out. I just don’t trust people to care of what I need in this regard anymore. They don’t know enough about what I need but they’re charging me like they do. In the end, I don’t get satisfaction unless someone is keyed into my specific goals. This business is a roller coaster ride.”

Roller coaster ride notwithstanding, Travis is an exceptional songwriter, which fuels much of her performing brilliance. The main source for her ballads and rhythm tracks is her own life.

“My music means the world to my fans and to me. They love my lyrics. Both men and women tell me how my music has impacted their lives. That is because I know what people like, and I know what gets the crowd rocking.”

“I mostly write when I’m by myself. At times I’ll catch something when I’m totally blank. But when I catch on to it, I go with it. I take my recorder with me all the time because a lot of times when I go out, I’ll hear something. I could be sitting in the car singing and something will pop up. But then, if I don’t have that recorder in just a few seconds, I forget it.”

“I’ll even dream music and when I wake up, I’ll have to latch onto it quickly or it floats away. So, you can see that music comes to me unexpectedly – anytime, any place.”

A prolific writer, she is in the process of recording at least three songs with a look towards a number of albums in the near future. Her two newest prospective singles include “I Wanna Be Free” a gorgeously melodic track that reminds us of Marvin Gayes’ breakout “What’s Goin’ On”. Hip and catchy, it is brilliantly sung with heartfelt soul woven through an infectious beat that won’t quit. In addition, “Just Watch My 1 Two Step,” has a trail-riding beat that has sure-fire hit all over it.

“All they gotta do is ‘Watch My 1 Two Step,’ Nellie says with assurance.

“I’m still editing them,” she admits. ‘’I’m going back next week, and I might just do another one while I’m there. I’m recording these first few in Virginia with a couple of friends of mine.’’

Beyond writing and recording, Ms. Travis has also been performing in recent months.

“I went on the Blues Cruise in January, and got a chance to play with my favorite Brooks Brothers! Yeah, Ronnie and Wayne Baker Brooks; and I got to meet Kenny Wayne Sheppard. It was just awesome. I hung out with them and when Ronnie had a show in Atlanta, I went to support him. I haven’t left the Blues, I still got them all the way; they will always be in my soul.”

Travis also supports women singers that she sees coming up.

“I’ll also go and check out the female vocalists here. You know, all the younger girls coming out love me because they look at Nellie Travis and see how I dress and they’re like ‘You’re just always wearing good stuff; where are you shopping?’ I just say, ‘All over!’ It’s nothing that I brag about, I just get dressed up because that’s me, I like to look good. So, they have a great deal of respect for me, which makes me feel great.” And it goes further than that. “Now a lot of them want to do collaborations with me and I might do that.”

“I’ve been trying to find a way to get it set up so that I could do that for the young women to keep them from having to go to through the business struggles I’ve gone through over the years. That would be a fantastic achievement. I wouldn’t have to worry about people doing whatever or saying whatever because I’d be doing my own thing and bringing my artists in.”

When pressed if she appears around Atlanta to share a stage as she did in Chicago back in the day, Nellie say no.

“No, not really. They’ll twist my arm a little to make me sing, but I try not to do that. I’m preserving my professional status.”

An exception to that rule inspires an anecdote that leads the diva to a larger point.

“Then again, there was the case when I went to see Derek “The Changed Man” Smith and he was singing and just killing it. I mean it was just so sacred; it was just beautiful. So, I’m in the audience, and he asked the band if they knew the Etta James classic “I’d Rather Go Blind.”

“Well, he asked me to come up and sing it and, of course, I couldn’t say no. And everybody just lost their minds; I mean crying – people were crying! It’s funny because it’s the same thing that happened to me at the Chicago Blues Festival, when I sang the National Anthem in June 2017. And when I sang “I’d Rather Go Blind” that time, I looked down in the pit and a photographer was crying too. And there was rain coming down and it was like tears from heaven. That’s the good thing about singing; knowing how you feel about certain things. Music always makes me feel good.”

Not only does Nellie “Tiger” Travis feel good in music, she feels empowered to record five albums in different genres in the coming years: Country, Southern Soul, Blues, Trail Riding and Gospel.

“My thing is mostly blues and R&B,” she sums up on her website. “But I always did different genres of music never had a classification in mind. People love every genre of music I do and pick what I am to them.”

As for more upcoming appearances, Nellie will be celebrating a special day with a 65th Birthday Extravaganza Concert at the Camelot Banquet in Hickory Hills, IL on May 31st (678-557-1846 for tix). And there will be more to come in the Chicago area around this time once contracts are signed.

Last, but not least, Ms. Travis, was happy to remind us that her long-awaited memoir was published in March of 2024. Titled “The Life Of A Blues Diva Told By A Southern Girl,” it is an inspiring tale of her long journey from a little town in the Deep South to becoming both Queen of Chicago Blues and a Queen of Southern Soul.

“It’s on Amazon,” the authoress says gladly “and I’d love for people to know where I’ve come from. I am proud of my roots and my birthplace. I visit my hometown of Mound Bayou every year now. They named a street after me in a ceremony on July of 2023 which makes me feel so honored.”

Her musical road has been a long one and not without its stumbling blocks.

“As for right now, I guess you could say I’ve mellowed about not allowing certain stresses into my life that cause pain,” Ms. Travis asserts. “Satisfaction comes with accomplishment and, yes, I am happiest on stage, and I have plenty of projects and music to make. But I am not immune to the hurt and anger caused by certain aspects of this business. Unfairness and abuse still take place for musical artists, even those of high stature. Especially women, which cuts so deep.”

“But I won’t submit to it; I am still a Tiger when it comes to that. I adopted my nickname for a reason, you know. So, while some edges have softened a little, my protective side has not. I still have to fight through this constant struggle. I still got my Tiger.”