GOSPEL ARTIST TRAVIS MALLOY RECEIVED A PROCLAMATION FROM THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH UPON HIS RETURN TO HIS HOMETOWN, AUG. 9. HE PERFORMED TWO SOLD-OUT SHOWS AT THE CITY WINERY IN THE STRIP DISTRICT. PICTURED NEXT TO MALLOY IS HIS MOTHER, LANITA IVERSON. (PHOTO BY MARLON MARTIN)
Travis Malloy has always been gifted.
It showed early, probably before the age of 8, but by that time, he was already leading the congregation at Petra International Ministries in East Hills in worship.
That’s right. At age 8.
He would be playing the keyboard at 3, 4 o’clock in the morning, waking up his mother, Lanita Iverson.
“I would say, ‘what is that melodious sound downstairs?’ It would be Travis on the keyboards,” she said in an interview with the New Pittsburgh Courier.
TRAVIS MALLOY WITH HIS MOTHER, LANITA IVERSON. (PHOTOS BY MARLON MARTIN)
Malloy, who grew up in Stanton Heights, graduated from Pittsburgh CAPA in 2006, and then soon embarked on a journey into the world of Gospel music, including singing, songwriting, producing, etc.
He’s not afraid to mix R&B or even Hip-Hop rhythms and beats into his Gospel repertoire. Overall, it’s been a 15-plus year professional journey for Malloy, whose albums span from “Lift Him Up” to his latest album, “Favor,” which was released this year, 2026.
He’s performed all around the country, all around the world. But on Sunday, Aug. 9, he performed two sold-out shows in the place where it all began — Pittsburgh, Pa.
The crowds, by all accounts, loved his performances, held at the City Winery in the Strip District. The crowd seemed to love his live version of “Total Praise,” as Malloy was backed by the Urban Worship Collective on vocals.
Iverson, Malloy’s mother, was all smiles as she spoke onstage about her son to the crowd. Malloy was presented a proclamation by the City of Pittsburgh as well during the event.
“She was the first person that believed in me before I was old enough to believe in myself,” Malloy told the Courier’s Marlon Martin at the Aug. 9 event. “For her to still be alive to see her prayers come to pass and standing on the stage next to me is incredible.”
Malloy now lives in Atlanta, but he’ll always remember all the people who poured into him at schools, churches and community events in Pittsburgh.
One of those people who’s always been behind Malloy is Apostle Annette Carswell.
“To hear the sound that we all remember and grew up on, and watched him grow up, it (the performance) was spectacular,” she told the Courier’s Martin. “When he came out (on stage), I cried. Immediately, I wept. I said, ‘wow, this is real.'”
TRAVIS MALLOY (PHOTOS BY MARLON MARTIN)
