Randy Travis smiled beside his wife, Mary, as she remembered the emotional moment she listened to “Where That Came From” for the first time.
Travis, 64, recently released his first new studio recording in more than a decade. The legendary country artist suffered a stroke in 2013, which left him with lasting damage to the part of his brain that controls speech and language; however, Cris Lacy, Co-Chair and Co-President of Warner Music Nashville recently explained to CBS Mornings that with help from AI [Artificial Intelligence], “we would give Randy Travis his voice back.”
“Of course, even 12 months ago, AI was real new to people’s thinking, even though we use it day to day,” Mary said as she and her husband recently caught up with iHeartCountry, reflecting on the process to bring the song to life. “But with a song, it was different, and it’s a song that’s blessed by the artist. …so we worked on it for the last year, and when we heard it, it was so emotional for him and I could hardly hear because I was crying so loud. It was so beautiful to hear that voice. I waited 11 years just to hear that voice.”
Travis, 64, shared videos of the moments his family and others in the country music community — including Carrie Underwood, Cody Johnson, Cole Swindell, Josh Turner and others — listened to “Where That Came From” for the first time. Mary said “it was important for him to know how his friends in music, the people that are so important to him, how they felt about it. And so, it really re-energized him to know that they had such good feedback, and they were so emotional about it.”
Travis reflected when his newest single made its debut that “eleven years ago I never thought I would be able to have a hand in music production of any kind, but by God’s grace and the support of family, friends, fellow artists, and fans, I’m able to create the music I so dearly love. …Many thanks to my wonderful team and the best fans in the world for putting me back in the saddle again! I’ve enjoyed every moment of it.”
Travis, who recently stopped by The Bobby Bones Show with Mary and his longtime producer, attended the 59th ACM Awards to join fellow country artist Clay Walker on stage to present the Song of the Year award. The crowd cheered for Travis as Walker praised “Where That Came From,” and together, the duo revealed Jordan Davis as the award winner for “Next Thing You Know.” Mary told iHeartCountry “for him [Travis], it’s like being home again,” to take the ACM Awards stage. “He’ll make me cry
“Everybody’s so wonderful here. We’re so glad to be here, and it’s our hometown, so it makes it all feel so right,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of things going on. We cannot complain about life. It’s very, very good. We have some of our family here with us, and it means a lot to us to be here.”