Randy Travis has shared a surprise announcement with fans: he’s preparing to release his first album of original material in over 18 years. He made the announcement while visiting the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis on Tuesday (7 July).
According to a press release, he – along with Alexandra Kay – gave patients and their families a preview of the upcoming project. Along with previewing Travis’s upcoming recordings for the first time, Kay performed his #1 hits, Forever and Ever, Amen, I Told You So, and Deeper Than The Holler.
While no album title or release date have been announced yet, fans can dig into the first single from the record, Fish On, this Friday (10 July), which Travis teased earlier this week by saying he went “fishing in the vault.” You can pre-save the single here.
“Sharing the love of music for decades with listeners of all ages has been an honor of mine,” Travis said, with help from his wife, Mary.
He added, “I feel extremely blessed. Earlier this week, as we announced my new album and played some of the songs for the children and families at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, I was reminded of my reason for doing it.
“Gratitude and appreciation welled up as emotions I didn’t expect when stories were shared about a particular song’s impact on their lives. I hope these dusted-off songs from the vault touch folks the same old way.”
Travis’s longtime producer, Kyle Lehning, assembled, remixed, and remastered “a number of great songs” from his years of working with the country music trailblazer.
Fish On isn’t the first new music we’ve heard from Randy Travis. In May 2024, he released his first new song in over a decade, Where That Came From. The single marked his first studio recording since surviving a near-fatal stroke in 2013, which severely affected his ability to sing and talk.
However, the track generated controversy for being created using AI, despite Travis himself giving consent to a then-unnamed vocalist, James Dupré, to help create the single.
Last year, the pair followed Where That Came From with another AI-assisted track, Horses in Heaven. However, last November, Travis instead opted to search through the vault and release a Christmas song titled Where My Heart Is.
This year marks 40 years since Travis released his multi-Platinum debut album, Storms of Life. From August to November, he’ll bring his More Life Tour to a close after touching down in 54 cities across 24 states.
Countrytown brings you Australia’s best country music news, interviews, charts and more every week! This post was authored by Countrytown and originally published on the Countrytown website. It has been re-published with permission.
