Travis are a Scottish Britpop band from Glasgow, comprising Fran Healy (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Dougie Payne (bass, backing vocals, occasional lead vocals), Andy Dunlop (lead guitar, banjo, keyboards, backing vocals) and Neil Primrose (drums, percussion). Travis has twice been awarded British album of the year at the annual BRIT Awards, and are often credited with having paved the way for bands such as Coldplay, Keane and Snow Patrol. They have released five studio albums, beginning with their debut, Good Feeling, in 1997. Their fifth album, The Boy with No Name, was released 7 May 2007.

Val Emmich's major label debut Slow Down Kid is a re-release of his full length independent album. The record was originally recorded in Hoboken, NJ with producer Wayne Dorell (Yo La Tengo, Chavez) in 2002 and released by Childlike Records in 2003. After the record got picked up by Epic in early 2004, Val went to Los Angeles to record four new songs with producer Mark Trombino (Jimmy Eat World, Rilo Kiley, Finch).