Randy Travis has been performing at the Route 66 Casinos Legends Theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico for 20 years … [+]
Country music legend Randy Travis, who has been largely unable to speak or sing since a devastating stroke in 2013, is singing again with the help of artificial intelligence.
On Friday, Travis released a new song recorded in the studio called “Where That Came From,” made with an AI version of his voice trained on previous audio tracks. It's his first new song since a stroke left him with severe aphasia, a disorder caused by damage to the side of the brain that controls language.
“Eleven years ago I never thought I would be able to collaborate in music production of any kind, but by the grace of God and the support of family, friends, fellow artists and fans, I am able to create the music that I loved so much. love,” Travis shared in a Thursday Facebook post that accompanied a teaser video for the song.
The song demonstrates the power of AI to unlock creative expression for people with disabilities. Last month, Steve Gleason, a football hero paralyzed by ALS, showed off a series of vibrant drawings he made with art-trained AI that he made before his diagnosis.
Travis' new song has a smooth, easy-listening vibe. “He had eyes like diamonds and they caught the light,” sings the Country Music Hall of Famer. “Ah, but they were dark and deeper than the night. But when he smiled the sun rose, and there is no more whence it rose.
Artists have responded to generative AI with both enthusiasm for the tools' creative potential and concern that it will steal work from them to form datasets, or possibly alter the very nature of creativity. But Travis fans have met the song with nothing but joy, praise and appreciation.
“Hearing her voice again is a miracle,” wrote one in the music video's YouTube comments section. “What a beautiful song!” Wrote another: “It doesn't matter if it's AI, voice cloning, etc. This is Randy's voice in one form or another – you can hear the authenticity regardless of how this was created and I love it “.
Travis, who will turn 66 on May 4, rose to prominence in the 1980s with his best-selling debut album. Storms of Life. He went platinum with his first album and was the first debut country artist to go multi-platinum.
Travis “became the de facto leader of a handful of traditionally minded artists who dramatically changed the course of country music's evolution beginning in 1986,” reads the description of the artist who makes a Country Music Hall of Fame. “Travis' understated traditional vocal twang and square-jawed sex appeal endeared him to both the hard country faithful and millions of fans beyond the confines of mainstream country.”
Travis recorded “Where That Came From” with record producer Kyle Lehning, his longtime collaborator, and Warner Music Nashville.
“There's a lot of talk about all the negative aspects of AI,” said Cris Lacy, co-chairman and president of Warner Music Nashville. CBS News Sunday morning. “We started with this concept of, 'What would AI be like…for us?'” The first thing that came to mind, according to Lacy: “We were going to give Randy Travis his voice back.”
