It wouldn’t be unreasonable to argue that Randy Travis had the purest voice in the history of country music. When the news broke in 2013 that a stroke had robbed him of his ability to sing, most expected that we’d never hear any new music from him ever again. However, in 2024, with the assistance of artificial intelligence, Travis and his team released a song titled “Where That Came From.” Travis gave his blessing, and the result was an emotional “return” for one of country music’s most special voices.
At the time, the consensus seemed to be a big apprehensive “Well… I guess it’s okay in this specific circumstance, but this could be a very slippery slope.” There was always a concern about where this could lead.
Fast forward two years, with artificial intelligence advancing at an unprecedented rate, the slippery slope actually materialized. AI music went from “could this be used compassionately in an extraordinary situation?” to an increasingly pervasive part of the music ecosystem, including fake artists and unauthorized AI music appearing on streaming platforms.
Two years later, the conversation around AI in music is almost unrecognizable, which makes Travis’ newly announced album, Same Old Way, particularly interesting. The 12 songs on the album are not AI, but rather actual Randy Travis recordings made between 1986 and 2013. They’ve been sitting in the vault all this time, waiting for longtime producer Kyle Lehning to dig them out, reassemble them and give them new life.
Just two years ago, we needed artificial intelligence to hear Randy Travis sing something new. Now, as AI has become increasingly ubiquitous and increasingly looked down upon, we’re getting new Randy Travis songs the old-fashioned way.
These forthcoming tracks aren’t simulations of Randy Travis. They are Randy Travis. His actual voice, captured decades ago, on songs that might otherwise never have seen the light of day.
In an industry that is becoming increasingly capable of manufacturing the sound of almost anyone, there’s something special about discovering that the real thing was sitting in a vault all along.
So now that we know there are 12 more Randy Travis songs hiding in the vault, it’s hard not to wonder what else might be in there. Also, Randy may not be the only one with treasures buried away. Recent posthumous releases like Gary Stewart’s One Track Mind and Waylon Jennings’s Songbird have unearthed recordings that might otherwise have remained unheard. Brad Paisley’s Tacklebox sees him release new recordings of songs he wrote in the 90s and 2000s that were never released.
Maybe, in an era when AI can create an endless supply of new “music,” there’s something to be said for looking backward instead. There is evidently a lot of country music sitting on shelves, waiting to be heard. It shouldn’t come as a shock if this trend catches on or if more and more country artists start reaching through their own vaults, bringing forgotten songs back into the light, and “diggin’ up bones.”
