More than a decade after a stroke, Randy Travis sings again, courtesy of AI

Even if you don’t like country, you can’t help but bathe in the baritone that is Randy Travis. His voice goes down like whiskey – always has, since his first album, “Storms of Life”, in 1986. “I thought if we sold 40 thousand copies they might let us make a second record.” said producer Kyle Lehning.

They ended up selling four million. “So I’m a genius!” Lehning laughed.

Randy Travis and that voice helped shape Warner Music Nashville into what it is today. “How do you describe that thing that hits you in the center of your chest and unconsciously makes you feel satisfied, familiar and known?” said Cris Lacy, co-president and co-president of the label. “Like you to describe something similar?”

His talent was God-given… and then fate took it all away.

In 2013, Travis suffered a massive stroke. He was given just a 2% chance of survival. “I thought we were going to lose him,” Lehning said.

Lacy said, “It felt like it could be the end of an era.”

In addition to paralysis, the area of ​​the brain that controls speech and language was the most affected. Randy’s wife, Mary, said, “He’s made of music. Music is his heart, it’s his soul.”

Mary does most of the talking these days. She said Randy knows what she means but just won’t come out.

Asked if he had made peace with it, Randy replied, “Yes. Yes.”

Three years after his stroke, with Mary by his side, Travis was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and gave new meaning to “Amazing Grace”. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

In his absence, however, he heard many AI-generated fakes of his voice. A simple Google search brings up sites that promise to transform anyone’s vocals into a Randy Travis-like sound. “It doesn’t feel good and it doesn’t feel real, because it isn’t,” Lacy said.

And that got his record company thinking. Lacy said: “We started with this concept of what A.I. good it seems to us? And the first thing that came to mind was that we were going to give Randy Travis his voice back.”

There were more than a few skeptics – Kyle Lehning, for example. “It seemed like a parlor trick or something,” he said.

But Lehning (with Randy’s blessing) decided to give it a try. He and Warner Music began by pulling 42 Randy Travis tracks from the vault, such as the original recording of his hit “1982.” And then, they removed the song, leaving only the vocals.

That was half the recipe. The other half needed to be provided by a donated or “surrogate” voice. In this case, that voice came from country singer James DuPre.

The AI ​​program – the “secret sauce” – takes Travis’ voice and overlays it over DuPre’s singing. It’s hardly an exact science. “It’s not about how it sounds; it’s about how it sounds feelings” said Lehning.

And that’s not something a computer can figure out. “Not yet!” Lehning laughed.

He knows Travis’s voice almost better than Randy does; they have worked together for 40 years. This time, however, the task was to take a computer-generated voice and give it Randy’s country heart. “Him being here and being able to be a vital part of the decision-making process makes all the difference to me,” Lehning said.

In the end, they came up with something they felt was worthy of a voice that no one except those who knew him best could replicate.

According to Lacy, “It’s Randy Travis. Randy is on the other side of the microphone. It’s still his vocal. There’s no reason for him not to be able to make music, and to deprive him of that if he still wants to do it, that’s unfair to me.”

Two months ago, Warner Music gathered a small circle of fellow musicians in a recording studio. Randy sat down with a Cheshire cat grin and then they pressed “play.”

Listen to “Where That Came From” by Randy Travis:

The reaction to her first new music in more than a decade was a mix of joy and admiration.

To your wife, tears. For Randy’s country friends, like Grammy-winning superstar Carrie Underwood, there was confusion. (“How? How? As?!?“) For Cole Swindell, who just won three ACM awards, it reminded him of why he became a country singer. (“For all of you guys to let me hear it, that means a lot. Damn, I’m happy to hear you sing!” ) And veteran country star Clay Walker was simply over the moon.

Even Randy’s own family hadn’t heard about it until two weeks ago.

It was perfection… with one caveat. “We don’t know exactly how to get back here,” Cris Lacy said.

The second song they are working on is proving to be a tough nut to crack. There is still work to be done and many questions to be answered about what this all means moving forward.

But enjoy this: After a decade-long absence, Randy Travis is back on the radio. Her post-stroke debut song, “Where That Came From,” was released last week.

For Randy, it’s not just a single, it’s a victory. And as Maria says: “It is an inspiration for life. Speak kindly, love fully, live fully, and leave the rest to God.”

It feels like there’s a song somewhere. We can only hope.

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Story produced by Reid Orvedahl. Editor: Lauren Barnello.