Travis is in the first week of its opening spot on Oasis' North American tour, and the band is already drawing rave reviews for its sets, which have drawn heavily from the group's second album, "The Man Who," released in the U.S. last week.

Stateside Travis fans might be surprised to see a new face sitting behind the drumkit for the recent American shows in place of band drummer Neil Primrose.

According to Travis frontman Fran Healy, the newcomer is an 18-year-old named Bo Walsh, a drummer the group tapped once Primrose realized he had to bypass this round of touring in order to stay at home with his pregnant wife.

The day before Travis kicked off its tour with Oasis, Healy talked with MTV News about how the band stumbled across the teenage drummer during a show in Dublin, Ireland last December.

[article id="1451330"]"Well, we were on tour in December 1999,"[/article] Healy explained, [article id="1451330"]"and

we opened our first show at this big place in Dublin with a band called the Clint Boon Experience. Well, Clint Boon was with the Inspiral Carpets, a British band [that in] 1990, 1991 [got] famous with the song 'This Is How It Feels'... which is a great, great song. And the guy himself is fantastic.

We had got them out of a bunch of CDs that we got for support acts, and their album was just fantastic. So they opened for us, and Bo was drumming for them, and he was amazing. This kid is like 18 years old, and he's an unbelievable drummer.

So I was talking with them after,"[/article] Healy continued, [article id="1451330"]"and [it turns out] that Bo isn't actually their drummer. He was just filling in for their drummer, who couldn't be there at that time for that particular couple of gigs. And Bo is actually just their drum tech.

When it came this year to [head out with Oasis], because Neil is gonna have a baby, Neil is gone with his wife back in the

U.K. and she's due on the 20th of April. We were thinking, 'You've got to be there, and we've got to get someone to fill in for him.'

And I was thinking, 'Sh**, man, who are you going to get to fill in for Neil? Who?' And then I was like, 'Oh, wait a minute, Bo!' Bo's just perfect. Because the kid's 18, and he needs as many breaks as he can get. He's a fantastic musician. So we got him in to do a rehearsal, and it was fine. So that was that." [RealAudio][/article]

Oasis and Travis will play The Joint in Las Vegas on April 11, followed by a show at the Auditorium Theatre in Denver on April 13.

For more on Travis and its new album, be sure to check out the MTV News Online feature "Travis: The Band Who," premiering here on Wednesday, April 12.