Benjamin Jones
Legendary country music star Randy Travis hasn’t released a new single since suffering a stroke in 2013 that robbed him of his beloved singing voice. Until now. “CBS News Sunday Morning” correspondent Lee Cowan gets an exclusive look at how cutting-edge artificial intelligence allowed Travis to once again raise his voice in music in a story airing Sunday, May 5 on CBS and on Paramount+.
“There’s a lot of talk about all the downsides of AI,” said Cris Lacy, co-chairman and president of Warner Music Nashville. “We started with this concept of ‘What would AI look like… for us?’ And the first thing that came to my mind [was] We would give Randy Travis his voice back.”
CBS News
Doctors gave Travis (“Forever and Ever, Amen”, “Deeper Than the Holler”) just a 2% chance of surviving the stroke. In addition to the paralysis, the area of his brain that controlled speech and language was damaged almost beyond repair.
Cowan spoke with Travis and his wife, Mary, and also got a behind-the-scenes look at how Travis’ longtime producer Kyle Lehning, with Travis’ blessing, crafted a song using the chart-topping singer’s previous audio tracks. as a starting point. to point. With the help of another singer, a specially designed AI program superimposed Travis’ voice on the new recording. With input from Travis, Lehning meticulously shaped the AI-generated vocal into a song that felt authentic to the country icon. “It’s not about how it sounds. It’s about how it feels,” Lehning said.
“Him being here and being able to be, you know, a vital part of the decision-making process makes all the difference to me,” Lehning said.
“It’s Randy Travis,” Lacy said. “Randy is on the other side of the microphone. … It’s still his vocals … There’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to make music. …And to deprive him of that, if he still wants to do that, that’s unfair to me. “
Cowan was there when Travis’ country music friends and family heard the song for the first time. Travis’ single “Where That Came From” was released to the public on May 3.
“It’s so weird trying to explain everything that goes through your head when you hear it,” said his stepdaughter, Cavanaugh Mauch.
Watch a preview of Lee Cowan’s report above.
To listen to Randy Travis’ new single “Where That Came From,” click the video player below:
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