Randy Travis Stops in to Hear Dustin Lee Martin, Stays All Night

News 17 Comments

photo via Dustin Lee Martin

Well this is pretty damn cool.

Singer, songwriter, and troubadour Dustin Lee Martin is one of these guys who’s been doing it for years, writing good songs, releasing albums when he can scrounge up enough time and money to get into the studio, entertaining folks as best he can, hoping for those little or big moments when a connection is made with an audience making all of the work and effort worthwhile. Well one of those big moments happened for him Sunday night, July 25th.

Playing at the Valentine Bar on Lower Broadway in Nashville on one of those grueling 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. shifts, Dustin Lee Martin was performing the Chris Stapleton song “Broken Halos” about an hour into the set when who else but Randy Travis happened to be walking by with his wife Mary and others. They heard Dustin Lee singing and decided to stop in, and apparently Randy Travis loved what he was hearing so much, he and his family stuck around for the rest of the night, listening to the music, hanging out with fans, and having a good time.

In tribute to Travis, Dustin Lee Martin and his band played “Deeper Than The Holler,” “If I Didn’t Have You,” and then by Randy’s own request, they performed “Three Wooden Crosses,” even though they had never played the song together before as a band. Martin shared the moment with band members Brandon Buck, Patrick Gulley, and Andrew Paul.

“I’m speechless right now,” Dustin Lee said afterwards. “He ended up staying all night until we were finished, tapping his foot and having a good time. I said, ‘Sir, I sure hope we did your songs justice,’ and he smiled real big and gave us a big thumbs up!”

Randy Travis has become pretty famous for making unannounced appearances at the concerts of deserving artists, including a couple of times at Cody Jinks shows, but this was a situation where he was walking by, simply liked what he heard, and decided to stick around.

“He and his family had just left midtown, it was too crowded, so they went down to Broadway,” Dustin Lee Martin explains to Saving Country Music. “He stopped in around 11, and stayed all night! Very cool guy. He took pictures with everyone who wanted one, and waited until we got finished so we could meet him and take pictures.”

Later Randy Travis posted some video of the night on his Tik-Tok account (see below). Yes, Randy Travis has become somewhat of a Tik-Tok star lately, with nearly 2 million followers.

Born in Blytheville, Arkansas and raised in Rives, Missouri, Dustin Lee Martin started writing songs at a young age. He moved to Nashville in 2014, and after playing in the country/Southern rock outfit Burnt Biscuit and in his own trio called The Ramblers, he’s since dedicated himself mostly as a songwriter in Nashville, and performing on Lower Broadway. Dustin Lee Martin released his latest album Halos and Smoke Rings in 2020.

“It was pretty surreal to play for one of my heroes,” says Martin.

@randy.travis

Went on Broadway last night in Nashville to hear some good ole country music! Got to meet a bunch of friends too 🤠♥️##Nashville ##Broadway

♬ original sound – Randy Travis
© 2025 Saving Country Music

, ,