From the Estate of Country Music’s premier gold and platinum
awards maker, Ken Kittinger. Ken was my father and he made awards for 50
years until his death at 91. You can Google
Ken at: Ken Kittinger Gold Records for
more info.
This – Chris Stapleton’s very first album – Traveller, was released when Chris was 37 and it’s one
of the most revered DEBUT albums in country music history. But while Traveller became a hit single, it was the dynamic duo of Chris and Justin
Timberlake “crushing” one of the album’s
tracks, Tennessee Whiskey on
2015’s CMA Awards that skyrocketed the
album and the new single into the stratosphere. Rolling Stone Magazine said that the TV duet
is the greatest country duet ever seen on television.
Many do not know that Chris was actually a Kentucky
transplant to Nashville for 15 years before his debut album – Traveller
– was released. My father attended many
a meeting with the Tennessee Songwriters with Chris over the years as he penned
songs for other artists. including George Strait and Thomas Rhett among others.
But the thing about TRAVELLER is that - it’s 99% Chris –
period. He put everything into his debut
album. He wrote 12 of the 14 songs
himself, played electric and acoustic
guitar, the mandolin, percussion
instruments and is not only the LEAD vocalist on the album, he sang harmony on several tracks with
himself. Said Chris in an interview
with Billboard, “….it could not be more
me.”
This award is the largest in my father’s vast Estate
inventory at 17” X 21” and as a shadow box award, the graphics, cassette, records & CD are all elevated for a 3D
appearance.
A Certificate of Authenticity comes with – authenticating that
the award was ordered by Mercury/Universal Records and sent to radio stations
and music exec’s but NEVER available to the public until his Estate was
inventoried and his awards were listed on line.
TRAVELLER was only recently
discovered in his vast inventory of more than 5,000 Estate items.
The 8 X 10 framed photo of Chris with Justin Timberlake at the 2015
CMA Awards Show was made after my father's death to accompany the award.