# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/merle-travis
# Generated: 2026-08-13T04:40:04.415Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/merle-travis"
name: "Merle Travis"
slug: "merle-travis"
description: "Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, actor, and guitarist. Born in Rosewood, Kentucky, his songs' lyrics were often about the lives and the economic exploitation of American coal miners. Among his many well-known songs and recordings are \"Sixteen Tons\", \"Re-Enlistment Blues\", \"I Am a Pilgrim\", and \"Dark as a Dungeon\". He is best known today, though, for his unique guitar style, still called Travis picking by guitarists, as well as his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Travis picking is a syncopated style of guitar fingerpicking rooted in ragtime music in which alternating chords and bass notes are plucked by the thumb, while melodies are plucked by the index finger. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977."
tagline: "American country/Western singer-songwriter and musician"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Gibson_Super_400_(1952)%2C_Merle_Travis%2C_CMHF.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Musicians"
  slug: "musicians"
profileType:
  name: "Singer / Musician"
  slug: "singer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q177220"
birthDate: "1917-11-29"
deathDate: "1983-10-20"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           52.33
  momentum:             0.1494622153932113
  historical:           17.12824266666667
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  75
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871419/"
    handle:    "nm0871419"
sources:
  - url: "https://www.discogs.com/artist/573736"
    title: "Discogs"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%84%D9%8A_%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B3"
    title: "مرلي ترافيس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%84%D9%89_%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B3"
    title: "مرلى ترافيس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%84_%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%B2"
    title: "مرل تراویز"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Travis"
    title: "Merle Travis"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Travis"
    title: "Merle Travis"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Travis"
    title: "Merle Travis"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%84_%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%B2"
    title: "مرل تراویز"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Travis"
    title: "Merle Travis"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Travis"
    title: "Merle Travis"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Travis"
    title: "Merle Travis"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Travis"
    title: "Merle Travis"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Travis"
    title: "Merle Travis"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Travis"
    title: "Merle Travis"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Travis"
    title: "Merle Travis"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A2%D1%80%D1%8D%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%81%2C_%D0%9C%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BB"
    title: "Трэвис, Мерл"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Travis"
    title: "Merle Travis"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Travis"
    title: "Merle Travis"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Merle_Travis"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/13da4ed2-7344-49aa-aa73-004826896c5c"
    title: "MusicBrainz"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1276598"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://www.themoviedb.org/person/121082"
    title: "Merle Travis"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump