#TwoStepTuesday: Randy Travis

Today’s country artist is one that I would categorize as being in my 1op 10 favorites.

Wikipedia tells us this about Randy Travis:

Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor.

Active since 1978, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 50 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including sixteen that reached the No. 1 position. Considered a pivotal figure in the history of country music, Travis broke through in the mid-1980s with the release of his album Storms of Life, which sold more than four million copies. The album established him as a major force in the neotraditional country movement. Travis followed up his successful debut with a string of platinum and multi-platinum albums. He is known for his distinctive baritone vocals, delivered in a traditional style that has made him a country music star since the 1980s.

By the mid-1990s, Travis saw a decline in his chart success. In 1997, he left Warner Bros. Records for DreamWorks Records and then for Word Records, where he began recording more Christian material. Although the career shift produced only one more number-one country hit "Three Wooden Crosses", Travis went on to earn several Dove Awards, including Country Album of the Year five times. In addition to his singing career, he pursued an acting career, appearing in numerous films and television series, including The Rainmaker (1997) with Matt Damon, Black Dog (1998) with Patrick Swayze, Texas Rangers (2001) with James Van Der Beek, and seven episodes of the Touched by an Angel television series.

Travis has sold over 25 million records and has won seven Grammy Awards, six CMA Awards, eleven ACM Awards, 10 AMA Awards, eight Dove Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2016, Travis was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

On July 7, 2013, Travis was admitted to a Dallas-area hospital for viral cardiomyopathy after a viral upper respiratory infection. His condition was classified as critical. Three days later, Travis suffered a massive stroke and had surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. On July 15, 2013, it was reported that Travis was awake and alert after undergoing brain surgery, that his heart was pumping without the assistance of machines, and that he was on the road to recovery. He was released from Baylor Heart Hospital in Plano, Texas, on July 31, 2013, and entered a physical therapy facility. Following his stroke, and despite therapy, Travis was unable to sing or speak and had to rely on a cane to walk for more than a year. By November 2014, he was slowly recovering, could walk short distances without assistance and was relearning how to write and play the guitar, according to his then-fiancée Mary Travis.

In 2016, it was reported he had recovered his voice after about three years of rehabilitation and therapy and could perform again. He attended his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame on October 16, 2016, where he performed a rendition of "Amazing Grace." In 2017, it was noted that Travis had suffered permanent damage, which disabled his right hand and has limited much of his speech and singing ability; he continues to make public appearances but no longer sings, mainly because of apprehension about his ability to do it as well as he used to. He appeared on-stage with Michael Ray during a cover performance of "Forever and Ever Amen" in June 2017, to which Travis contributed the final "Amen." He did the same during his 60th birthday party, thrown by the Grand Ole Opry on May 4, 2019.

In September 2019, Travis announced he would return to touring. The tour will feature James Dupré as lead vocalist singing the repertoire with Travis's backing band, with Travis having a limited presence similar to his one-off appearances since 2017. Initially announced as a 12-city tour, it was cut back to three concerts shortly before the tour began in October "due to unexpected production and technical issues related to the elaborate content of the show," with the intent to reschedule the canceled shows in the near future once the technical problems are resolved



Today’s Two Steppin’ Playlist:

1. Forever and Ever, Amen
2. I Told You So
3. On The Other Hand
4. Diggin Up Bones
5. Look Heart, No Hands
6. Better Class Of Losers
7. If I Didn’t Have You
8. 1982
9. It’s Just A Matter Of Time
10. Deeper Than The Holler

See you again soon! Share with me your thoughts about this playlist.  If you have a favorite country artist, let me know and I’d be happy to feature them.