About Essex Chanel Essex Chanel is Chicago-based Travis Lee Wiggins' solo music project, started in the summer of 2005. Travis is in two additional Chicago-based bands: The Summer Salts and also Fetla-but in Essex Chanel he does all the work, from writing all the music, playing all the instruments, to producing, mixing, and mastering. Addictive, catchy melodies abound in all of Essex Chanel's songs, whether it's classic rock, indie, alternative, folk, dance, or classically influenced (the music dips in many genres). Maybe the best example is in 67 Car Commercials, where genre jumping is shown to be an easy art-each song is 30 seconds, crossing music categories and going into the highly conceptual with interesting titles to go with the music. The focus of the music varies with each CD, some are what he calls "music collections" like his January 2007 song-a-day marathon or The Album is Dead, where songs are released on an album where every cd is different with different songs and track order. The music stays fresh and energetic with each new release. Many Essex Chanel albums and songs are downloadable for free, and this project is not constricted in songwriting or releasing material by being on any music label, which makes releases frequent and sometimes without prior notice. CDs and other items are available through www.essexchanel.com, as well as some limited releases through iTunes & Rhapsody.com. Most of Travis’s energy is spent in the studio recording new music. Several times a year, Travis tours under the Essex Chanel name, doing solo shows, as well as playing with a varied list of friends-which makes every Essex Chanel show an event.