Travis Denning Sings the Praises of a Truck for Charles Schwab
To celebrate the Charles Schwab Challenge PGA tournament and 75 years of golf at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, country star Travis Denning wrote and recorded a heartfelt ode ... to a truck.
Schwab offered a custom-rebuilt 1946 Dodge Power Wagon as a special prize for the winner, awarding the snappy ride to American Jason Kokrak, who shot a 14 under par to claim victory.
Should Kokrak choose to sing the brokerage's praises, Denning's lyrics for "Grew Up With a Truck" should suffice:
"Bet you burned a lot of rubber down on Main Street.
Cranked up some country with your baby in the front seat.
...Did a lot of livin' it up,
Kicked up some back-road dust,
And thanked the man up above you grew up with a truck."
The artist and Schwab's branded retro-wheels share screen time in the music video below, created by content agency Episode Four, which helped develop the truck-promo concept:
Denning gets product specific in the second verse:
"Bet you fell in love with that V8 runnin,
On a two lane with them 37s hummin.
Just like a Power Wagon from '46.
If you were lucky to have it as good as I did."
For now, "Grew Up With a Truck," which debuted to an audience of 1 million on D.J. Bobby Bones' popular podcast, streams across Denning's social channels, with an official release possible in the coming weeks.
As for the Power Wagon, Winslow Bent at Legacy Classic Trucks in Idaho completely refurbished and modernized the vehicle, which now features a 6.2-liter, 430-horsepower engine and automatic transmission—perfect for kickin' up that backroad dust. Bent also installed air conditioning, disc brakes, Schwab-style design details, and a dashboard plate acknowledging Ben Hogan's win at the inaugural Colonial tourney in '46.
Roll this clip to watch the transformation:
Two years ago, Schwab took over the title sponsorship and awarded a 1973 Dodge Challenger (representing the year of its founding) to eventual champion Kevin Na.
"The prize generated a lot of buzz by itself and then even more when Na gave it to his longtime caddie," Schwab SVP, retail activation and corporate marketing, Mason Reed tells Muse.
Following a pandemic year off for the event, Schwab sought to rev its publicity machine in 2021 with the Power Wagon and song.
"Research showed that golf fans are very interested in both classic cars and country music, and there is a long tradition of country songs about trucks," Reed says.
CREDITS
Client: Charles Schwab
Creative Agency: Episode Four
Founding Partner: Teddy Lynn
Founding Partner: Mark Himmelsbach
Executive Creative Director: Andrew Miller
Executive Producer: Lindsay Fa
Executive Director of Strategy: Leslie Walsh
Executive Director of Strategy: Sarah Greenfield
Art Director: Emily Galvelis
Art Director: Emily Kim
Production Coordinator: Aaron St. Jean
Account Director: Athena Livadas
Director of Operations: Jenni Lynn
Production Company: ML Media Group
Director: Teddy Lynn
Producer: Steve McDonald
DP: Rich Hama
Editor: Evan Vetter
Color: RCO
Sound: Matt Wood, One Union
Music: "Grew Up With a Truck" by Travis Denning
