FOR YOUR GRAMMY® CONSIDERATION
HeART Museum
by Travis Hall
BEST R&B ALBUM
WHY AM I ONLY RELEASING MY FIRST ALBUM NOW?
Long before making a soul album, I spent years learning to trust my own voice. Growing up in Atlanta, I was told I couldn't sing and shouldn't pursue music. Instead, I pursued the voice anyway. I became a professional opera singer, earned degrees in Vocal Performance from Columbus State University and Georgia State University, and performed more than 200 times with The Atlanta Opera, including Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville.
But the music that raised me never left.
R&B. Gospel. Funk. Soul.
For years, I felt caught in between places, trying to understand where my voice belonged. Classical music gave me discipline, breath, phrasing and control. Soul gave me freedom, intimacy and connection.
I WAS MEANT TO UNITE THEM.
In 2022, I returned to the music that had been calling me back. I began to imagine my heart as a museum.
IF MY HEART WERE A MUSEUM, THESE SONGS WOULD BE THE PAINTINGS ON ITS WALLS.
Each one preserves something I loved, lost, desired, remembered or could not let go of. That became HeART Museum, an eight song collection created with 25 Atlanta musicians, bringing my classical training into the soul and R&B tradition that raised me. So why did my first album take so long?
BECAUSE I WASN'T JUST LEARNING HOW TO MAKE A RECORD. I WAS LEARNING TO TRUST MY OWN HEART.
AND FINALLY, I DO.
REVIEWS
“A ten toes down soul singer.”
A lush tenor voice with an ability to reach the emotional stratosphere when the moment calls for it.
SOULTRACKS
“R&B/soul and production reminiscent of QUINCY JONES.”
“Travis’s voice soars on this, and he captivates you from the outset.”
DEL OSEI-OWUSU — FRESH ON THE NET
FRESH FAVES • TRACK OF THE WEEK • “A DAY”
“HeART Museum … fuses the elegance of classical opera with the soul-stirring essence of R&B and NeoSoul.”
“I’ve spent my life in between places.”
SLANG OF AGES
TRAVIS HALL — ARTS ATL
hEART MUSEUM'S EIGHT Paintings
LIGHTNING
01
ATTRACTION AS A FLASH
The instant attraction hits like lightning: sudden, electric, and gone if you hesitate.
KISS GOODNIGHT
03
The irresistible pull of desire when you promise to play it cool but keep coming back for another taste.
MEMORIES
05
WHEN THE PAST BECOMES PRESENT
How a photograph, scent, season, or forgotten object can return you to a love that is gone but still real in your mind.
07
A forbidden love becomes a secret Garden of Eden until the sun—and the judgment of society—finds them.
SECOND SONG EVER WRITTEN
FIREFLIES
LOVE AS DESIRE
FORBIDDEN LOVE
A DAY
02
LOVE BEFORE DOUBT
The innocence of loving without doubt, believing forever is as certain as the sun, moon, and turning Earth.
FIRST SONG EVER WRITTEN
MY FIRST LOVE
04
LOVE AFTER SEPARATION
When love ends but hope refuses to, leaving the possibility of finding each other again somewhere, someday.
A stranger’s song reopens a lost love, breaking through pride until all that remains is the need to grieve.
FOREVER
06
08
LOVE AS TEMPORARY ESCAPE
A forbidden night becomes a temporary forever, where two lovers pretend midnight will never come.
HEART STRINGS
LOVE AFTER LOSS
VISUALIZERS
Two songs. Two visual worlds.
Love in its brightest form and love in its most secret.
A DAY
LOVE BEFORE DOUBT
The first song Travis Hall ever wrote — a portrait of love before doubt, when forever still feels possible.
FRESH ON THE NET — TRACK OF THE WEEK
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC — CATLAB FESTIVAL | 2026
FIREFLIES
LOVE THAT COULD ONLY EXIST IN SECRET
A forbidden love becomes a secret Garden of Eden until the sun — and the judgment of society — finds them.
BEST MUSIC VIDEO — URBAN MEDIA MAKERS FILM FESTIVAL
BBR INDIE FILM FESTIVAL — NOMINEE
LONDON MUSIC VIDEO FESTIVAL — SELECTED
“THE SUN REPRESENTS SOCIETY.”
CREATIVE TEAM
TRAVIS HALL
ARTIST • SONGWRITER • COMPOSER • ARRANGER • PRODUCER
Travis Hall is an Atlanta born tenor, songwriter, composer, arranger and producer whose music brings the discipline of classical vocal performance into conversation with Black American soul and R&B.
After being told as a teenager that he could not sing and should not pursue music, Hall pursued the voice anyway. He earned degrees in Vocal Performance from Columbus State University and Georgia State University and built a professional career with The Atlanta Opera, performing more than 200 times and appearing as Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville.
On HeART Museum, Hall wrote, composed, arranged and produced all eight songs. His classical training in breath, phrasing, dynamics, diction and musical interpretation became part of the way he makes soul and R&B music. Recorded with 25 Atlanta musicians, the album is the result of Hall bringing together the worlds that shaped him rather than choosing between them.
His strength was in uniting them.
MAXWELL “MADIAC” ESTIS
PIANIST • PRODUCER • SONGWRITER • ARRANGER • VOCAL AND RECORDING ENGINEER
Maxwell “MaDiaC” Estis is an Atlanta pianist, producer, songwriter, arranger, engineer and studio owner whose creative practice is rooted in collaboration. He founded The Dojo as a space designed to help artists enter a focused creative state and build music through experimentation and community. In his own words, the studio was created as an incubator for his musical work and as a place where artists could feel creatively inspired and at home. (Shoutout Atlanta)
On HeART Museum, Estis performed keyboards and arrangements across all eight songs, contributed horn arrangements to “Lightning,” “A Day” and “Memories,” and served as vocal and recording engineer throughout the project.
For Travis Hall, his contribution goes far beyond the credits. Maxwell was one of the people who helped him cross the threshold from having songs to having an album.
He helped build the room where HeART Museum became possible.
BRENT KOLATALO
ROY COTTON II
MIX ENGINEER
2× GRAMMY® NOMINATED
STRING ARRANGER • ORCHESTRATOR • PRODUCER
Brent Kolatalo is a recording engineer, mixer, producer and musician whose credits include major recordings associated with Kanye West, Eminem, Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Lorde. His official GRAMMY® record includes two Album of the Year nominations for Kanye West’s The College Dropout and Eminem’s Recovery. The Recording Academy currently lists two nominations and zero wins. (Grammy)
His published credits also include work on Jay Z and Kanye West’s Watch the Throne, Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic, Eminem’s Recovery and numerous other major recordings. (BRENT KOLATALO)
For HeART Museum, Kolatalo mixed all eight songs, bringing that experience to an independently built album centered on live musicianship, rich harmony and Hall’s classically trained tenor.
The record was built independently. Its sonic ambition was never small.
Roy Cotton II is a producer, orchestrator and arranger whose career bridges contemporary recording, orchestral musicianship and music education. His professional music career began at fourteen under the mentorship of his father, Dr. Roy Cotton Sr., and he later earned a degree in music engineering with a focus in piano from Hampton University. (Roy Cotton, II)
As a musician and arranger, Cotton has recorded for artists including John Legend, Mariah Carey, Usher, Joe, Avery Sunshine, Jennifer Holliday, The Clark Sisters, Kim Burrell, Kierra Sheard and many others. (Roy Cotton, II)
On HeART Museum, Cotton created the string arrangements, bringing orchestral color into Hall’s soul and R&B language.
On an album about uniting musical worlds, the strings become another bridge.
CORE TEAM
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE RECORD
RICARDO “RICKY” MENENDEZ
FILLI FILLIZZOLA
ONYEMA OBIOMA
QUALITY LENZ
VON CHILDS
Creative Director
NICHOLE ROHRBACH MCKENZIE
Recording & Vocal Engineer
Mastering Engineer
Art Direction
Photography
Harp
MUSICIANS
THAYER NAPLES — Guitar
TY MAYFIELD — Guitar
JORDAN MANLEY — Percussion • Mallets • Congas • Clavé
CHRISTOPHER SANCHEZ — Bass
MELVIN “KHEMESTRY” FOWLER — Trumpet • Flugelhorn
WILL ROBERTSON — Bass • Mark Tree • Tambourines
CHENITHA REDDICK — Trombone • Featured Performer
REED JORGY — Alto/Soprano Saxophone
TRENT PATTEN — Trumpet
WESLEY WINFREY — Tenor Saxophone
RAE BAKER — Cello
EMRAH KOTAN — Percussion
ARLET TABARES — French Horn
JOYCELYN JACKSON — Flute
DIALOGUE — EGO! • “Lightning”
BACKGROUND VOCALS
Shenine Jackson • LaMirris “L.A.” • DuBois • Jasmine Janaye Rencher • Chevea Hayes • Dijean Horton • Lar'Kara Betha
ADDITIONAL CREDITS
All songs Written, Composed and Produced by Travis Hall
Executive Producer: Travis Hall
Producer: Travis Hall
Recording & Vocal Engineer: Ricardo “Ricky” Menendez
Vocal and Recording Engineer: Maxwell “MaDiaC” Estis
Recording Engineer: BlessemBless
Assistant Engineers: Filipe Villegas, Imaria Ayanna
Editor: Christopher Baldani
Mix Engineer: Brent Kolatalo
Mastering Engineer: Fili Filizzola
Recorded at: Georgia State University and The Dojo, Atlanta, Georgia
2023–2025
Label: Walker & Halls Music LLC
(Add full personnel list here as needed for archival completeness.)
VISUAL CREDITS
Art Direction: Onyema Obioma
Photography: Quality Lenz
Creative Director: Von Childs
WITH GRATITUDE
SPECIAL THANKS
To my mother, Trevia Walker: thank you for everything. For believing in me when I could not always believe in myself, for giving me the freedom to dream, and for being there through every version of this journey. There are parts of this album that exist because you made it possible for me to become the person who could make it.
To Professor Earl Coleman: thank you for teaching me that hard work beats talent when talent is not willing to work. Your example taught me that mastery is built through discipline, repetition and showing up.
To Dr. Geoffrey Haydon: thank you for opening my ears to jazz harmony and teaching me to hear beyond the obvious. Your guidance gave me another language for understanding the musical colors and movement I heard within me.
To Maxwell, the musicians, engineers, designers and everyone who entered the room: thank you for trusting the vision and helping turn something I heard inside myself into something the world could hear.
May you find yourself in these songs.
JAMEL MITCHELL
SAXOPHONIST • FLUTIST • HORN ARRANGER
1× GRAMMY® NOMINATED
Jamel Mitchell carries a direct connection to the Southern soul tradition. His father, the late James Mitchell, was the baritone saxophonist for the Memphis Horns, and Jamel grew up surrounded by the musicianship and work ethic that helped shape the Memphis sound. He later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Jazz Performance from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and built his own career with artists including Jerry Douglas, Ann Peebles, The Hi Rhythm Section and Bobby Rush. He was nominated for a GRAMMY® in 2018 for his work with the Jerry Douglas Band on What If. (Jamel Mitchell)
On HeART Museum, Mitchell contributes tenor and baritone saxophone, flute and horn arrangements, bringing generations of Southern soul musicianship into a contemporary R&B recording.
The history is not simply referenced on this album. It is in the room.