Randy Travis Previews New Album of Unreleased Songs
It’s been a long time coming and has been rumored for many years now. But we’re finally hearing the first of archived music from country music legend Randy Travis, recorded before he suffered his stroke in 2013 and lost his ability to sing.
Ever since his devastating stroke, there’s been efforts to make sure Randy’s music and legacy don’t go forgotten, even if his Hall of Fame voice is no longer able to grace audiences. He was one of the very first artists to test out using AI—an experiment it appears they decided to move on from, at least for now.
But as we’ve seen with so many artists lately including Waylon Jennings, Gary Stewart, and Don Williams, singers always leave an archive of recorded songs behind them, often left over from recording sessions for albums that didn’t make it on the track list for one reason or another. Now it’s Randy’s turn to delve into the archive, and see if any gold can be found.
On July 8th, word came down that Randy was prepping the release of his first album in 18 years with long-time producer Kyle Lehning, compiling “lost” songs and making them release ready. On Tuesday, July 7th, Travis gave a preview of the currently unnamed project to patients and their families at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. No release date has been announced, but it was revealed at the time that the first song from the project called “Fish On” would be forthcoming on Friday (7-10).
“I wrote this song with my longtime bus driver and dear friend Ron Avis, and it’s incredibly special to me that it’s been found in the archives,” Travis said with help from his wife Mary.
“Having my longtime producer, Kyle Lehning, do what he does best has made bringing it back to life even more meaningful. I’ve always loved fishing and country music, and being able to share this song so many years later means a great deal to me. There’s just no getting over the joy of sharing music with the people who’ve supported me through the years. It’s been an honor to share the love of country music with listeners of all ages for so many decades, and I feel truly blessed.”
“Fish On” is a feel good, good time ditty for the summer. It probably won’t compete for anyone’s Song of the Year, but it is good to finally hear an archived song from Randy Travis after years of hints and promises that unheard material was on the way. Now we wait for final confirmation of a title, track list, and release date for the archive album, and what hopefully will be another important chapter in the Randy Travis story.
July 12, 2026 @ 8:04 am
I am for sure looking forward to this. People also forget, or actually allow themselves to be uneducated to the fact, that Randy Travis has a large body of recordings available that they have not even taken notice of such as Passin Through, Around the Bend and the two Influence releases.
Changing the sbuject, I really would like his music he recorded pre-Storms of Life to be released properly.
July 12, 2026 @ 8:41 am
Some of that early stuff might be on here. Interested to see a track list.
July 12, 2026 @ 11:36 am
A live recording under the Randy Ray name (hilarious) saw the light of day some time ago, and according to what Randy Ray himself informs us, there are still seven songs from the Storms of Life session yet to be released, if anyone can find them.
July 14, 2026 @ 12:25 am
Lib probably got them in the divorce.
July 13, 2026 @ 1:46 pm
I’m pretty sure “Fish On” was recorded for either “Passing Through” or “Around the Bend,” probably the former. You can sort of tell in the nuances of his voice, as well as the arrangement.
July 12, 2026 @ 8:36 am
I have enjoyed the recent Don Williams, Waylon and Johnny Cash releases of unreleased material. They all have unique styles. They have been good. I am pleased and hope that Randy Travis has moved on from AI music. I hope he does not return to it. I want real music and his voice was incredible. He is one of the true greats. I look forward to this release. It should be a good listen and it will be country.
July 12, 2026 @ 9:00 am
I can’t wait for this. But I also hope he doesn’t completely quit the AI stuff. In general I’m not in favor of pure AI material, but for Randy I am prepared to make an exception.
July 13, 2026 @ 7:21 am
Agreed. This is the perfect case where AI is put to good use. “Where That Came From” is one of my favorite modern songs, and I can’t believe it is AI. Sounds like Randy to me. He can’t use his voice. But he is still here, and he approves of this. So I think it is great.
July 12, 2026 @ 11:36 am
Really happy about this…And also check out artist James Dupre In 2019, Randy and Mary Travis personally selected Dupré as the vocalist for “The Music of Randy Travis” tour, now known as the “More Life” tour. Alongside Randy’s original band, Dupré performs Randy’s most popular hits.
July 12, 2026 @ 3:08 pm
They need to go back to calling it The music Of Randy Travis, because it’s a tribute. Randy sings one word, “aaaaa-men.” The press releases and articles I see on other sites suggesting Dupre only sings some of the songs, that suggest Randy actually sings anything, are misleading.
I understand Randy needs to make a living, but the deception is unnecessary. I’m not sure why people would pay to see a tribute act with Randy in a wheel chair on stage, but as I’ve posted on this site many, many times before, nostalgia sells.
As far as this new album, I’m not convinced there was no AI used to bring these tracks to life. If they are legit, and the song featured here is the best of the lot, I understand why there were never released. I’ll stick to all the great RT music in my collection.
July 12, 2026 @ 7:48 pm
Wow, you seem like a wonderful guy. Drop me a line brother, unless you’re just trying to hide behind anonymity, and let’s chat. I think it’d be a fascinating conversation. zach@117group.com
July 13, 2026 @ 12:30 am
@Jimmy–Yeah, for a few years, there was this thing going where someone would post a video of Travis at some event and give it a misleading title stating that he sang, and Travis’s presumably fundamentalist fans would chime in with comments like “It’s a miracle!” and go off on how he’s singing again and has been cured.
And when he started his tour with Dupree doing the singing, they were a little cagey about it.
But that seems to have stopped. At the point of on-line ticket sales for all of these events, they state very clearly that Dupree will be singing all of Travis’s #1 hits and Travis will be on stage. Sure , there are probably some people who don’t read or pay attention and may be expecting to see Travis come out and sing, but the vast majority of ticket buyers to these concerts know exactly what they’re getting.
July 13, 2026 @ 6:44 am
Nobody is being misled that they’re going to see Randy Travis sing in concert. Everything is out in the open. There’s no reason to think the new recordings are AI. EVERY artist compiles unreleased recordings throughout their career. It would be more uncommon if Randy Travis DIDN’T do that. Clearly they could have continued down the AI path, and at this point, they aren’t. The fishing song isn’t spectacular, but let’s wait to hear what else is in store. I continue to be baffled by people assuming these archive releases will be terrible, when we just got two good ones from Waylon Jennings and Don Williams. Sure, it might be terrible. But let’s wait and hear it.
July 13, 2026 @ 6:52 am
Trigger,
Yesterday, while listening to the local legends of country station (a broad interpretation since they play Trace Atkins), the DJ mentioned an upcoming Randy Travis concert and encouraged people to see him without any further explanation .
July 13, 2026 @ 7:00 am
Well then the DJ is an idiot. The thing is we’re 13 years past his stroke. If it’s news to you he’s not singing and you don’t read what the promoters are putting out transparently, I don’t know what to tell you.
July 13, 2026 @ 7:13 am
No disagreement here.
It was just a field report.
July 13, 2026 @ 5:34 pm
“Nobody is being misled that they’re going to see Randy Travis sing in concert.”
Really? I guess the article I read the other day that said Dupree sings “some of the songs” was a hallucination.
As far as archived recordings, the archives were supposedly cleared out years ago. I agree that we should wait and see how the rest of the songs sound, but after the AI singles, I will remain skeptical.
July 14, 2026 @ 12:48 pm
Then you need to take it up with whoever wrote that article because they’re an idiot. I receive all of the official copy from the Randy Travis camp. The publicist for Randy Travis literally responded in this comments section. Nobody is saying Randy Travis comes out and sings songs. Full stop.
July 14, 2026 @ 11:24 am
It’s a religious thing for for some. Like the televangelists who have people in wheelchairs or with braces on their legs be brought up to the stage and the evangelist tells the person to stand straight and declares the person cured, to wide applause, whether the person has been cured in any way, or not. (Generally, not.)
There’s the contingent that likes to laud the “miracle” of Travis “singing again.” Either because they believe it, or engage in the penonmenon called “willing suspension of disbelief.” Among the broad public does not follow this closely, there may be a perception that Travis is singing now, simply from having heard various erroneuos media comments. (I.e. “Dupre sings some of the songs.”)
As I noted, they do lay out the truth, plainly, at the point of purchase of tickets on-line–that Dupre sings EVERYTHING. That at least protects them from having to give refunds to any ticket buyers who claim not to have known.
July 12, 2026 @ 2:40 pm
It’s always good to have more Randy Travis.
July 12, 2026 @ 3:23 pm
Looking forward to this album! Been a huge fan for yrs
July 13, 2026 @ 7:25 am
Songs from the vault from artists who are no longer with us are a true gem. A chance to hear “new” music from artists we love. I don’t know why anybody wouldn’t be happy about Randy songs from the vault. And the argument that the songs are inferior because they weren’t used doesn’t sit with me. If I love an artist, I want to hear anything they created.
After Kenny Rogers left Liberty Records for RCA, Liberty released the “Love Is What We Make It” album containing 10 songs that weren’t used on his United Artists/Liberty albums. It remains one of my favorite Kenny Rogers albums. Just because the songs weren’t used doesn’t make them bad.
And a few years ago, the Kenny Rogers estate released “Life Is Like A Song,” an album of Kenny songs from the vault. Why this received little press and attention is beyond me.
I nominate myself as Kenny’s legacy manager.
July 13, 2026 @ 5:39 pm
You’re right, Tommy, there have been gems found and released in the past from a number of artists, but for the most part unreleased songs are unreleased for a reason.
I never heard about the Kenny release. I second your nomination!
July 14, 2026 @ 9:15 am
Thanks, Jimmy!
I respect your view, of course. I understand that may often be the case. I mainly have this viewpoint because of the Kenny Rogers album I mentioned that was released after he left Liberty Records. That album remains one of my favorite albums by Kenny. It sounds like a cohesive, intentional album. This kind of blew away the unreleased songs aren’t as good theory for me personally. Although I am, clearly, heavily biased when it comes to Kenny! 🙂
The fact you never heard of the posthumous Kenny Rogers album released a few years ago proves my point…little was made of this and that troubles me greatly.
July 14, 2026 @ 12:39 am
With the current 90s resurgence, now is the perfect time to release more Randy Travis material. I ran across a YouTube video of Zack Top singing “1982” and was reminded how good Randy sounded coming out of your car speakers back then.