In October 2016, Randy Travis was one of three new members selected to enter the Country Music Hall of Fame, having led a neo-traditional revival after his commercial breakthrough in the 1980s. During his part of the event, he did something completely unexpected and performed a “Amazing Grace” verse, despite the fact that his voice had been largely muted after suffering a stroke three years earlier.
Through a combination of rehabilitation, perseverance, and the unwavering support of his wife Mary, the “Forever and Ever, Amen” singer continues to make challenging progress. The stroke resulted in aphasia, a condition that hinders the brain’s ability to understand or express speech, but Travis and his wife continue to do interviews. Rolling Stone Country He spoke to the couple, who are resisting the pandemic at their Texas home.
Although Travis’ responses during the conversation are mostly “yes” or “no”, with Mary answering most of the questions, it is remarkable to hear him use his voice again. With the pocket edition of your memories For ever and ever, amen Now, a collection of his recently released evangelical work, and a special appearance on Josh Turner’s upcoming country classic cover album, Travis and his wife have spent their time quarantining anything but idle.
How are they dealing with being quarantined?
Mary Travis: We are fortunate to be here on our farm, our ranch here in Texas. We have our horses and our cows and we go down and feed them and talk to them. We have wide open spaces and beautiful sunsets. Randy and I were talking about it, reflecting on how our world closed and stopped seven years ago, when the stroke occurred in July 2013. It was when we hit a brick wall and everything changed and we isolated everything we had known before. So for us it was not a great transition. But for people who have never been through something like this in life, or a tragedy where their whole world is shattered and changed in an instant, I’m sure it was difficult to adapt, because it was difficult for us to adjust to seven years ago
How much is music a daily part of your life, in terms of listening to it or singing it?
Mary Travis: The music is still huge. If you want to see someone come to life, watch someone come here with a guitar and start playing music. When we put the music on, Randy starts moving everywhere. It is so ingrained in the fiber of your soul. When we first left the hospital, I didn’t want to listen to music. I think it was part of adjusting reality. He could hear other people’s music before he could hear his own. But now we can hear everything.
So Randy, is Mary a good singer?
Randy Travis: Uh huh … yes.[[[[Laughs]
Mary Travis: He tells me that I am very good but that I am not going to let the world know the difference. I tell people that Randy could fill a place and that I could empty it.
I was there for the induction of the Country Music Hall of Fame, when Randy sang “Amazing Grace” and lamented the entire room. How did you prepare for that?
Mary Travis: Randy and I were on the road, and we just practiced “Amazing Grace” over and over again. We were still having a hard time with long prayers or anything else due to aphasia. But that was just one of those songs that he understood. When I handed him the microphone, I wasn’t sure how it was going, but we agreed that that’s what we wanted to do. And we hadn’t told anyone, not even the people in the Hall of Fame. So no one knew what was going to happen. We had a group of people there from Texas and one of them said, “Mary has gone crazy. What are you doing? I can’t believe he’s doing this, he’s really putting it in place. “Then the next thing I did was look at Charlie Daniels and he had a tablecloth-sized handkerchief, crying and blowing his nose. Everyone in the room was crying. It was a beautiful thing.
Randy Travis: Yes!
In terms of rehabilitation and what are you working on now, are there benchmarks to achieve or things to specifically work on?
Mary Travis: When we got out of the hospital in November 2013, they said, “Well, you know, he’s going to be bedridden for the rest of his life. And he’s going to be in and out of hospitals for the rest of his life. So this is a big task that you’re assuming. ” I said, “I don’t care about that … and I don’t think so.” It got to the point where it practically closed in terms of going through rehab because it gets tedious. When there is so much damage done, you take small steps. There are plateaus – you will see an improvement sprout, then it will stabilize for a while and be on a plateau, and then you will see another improvement and every little thing is something so huge.
The gospel album Precious memories, and the Worship and faith The DVDs were released a few months ago. Randy has historically been one of the few artists who can combine country hits with success in the gospel field. Why do you think the music resonates?
Mary Travis: These are difficult times and I think that going back to the gospel is very good for the soul. It takes us back to our roots of faith and takes us wherever the path leads us, knowing that God is in control all the time and we are not. Even today we hear people say, “I love your music and I especially love your gospel music because it really spoke to me, it helped me get through some difficult times.”
What role has your faith played in staying connected and dealing with everything you’ve had to do on a daily basis?
Mary Travis:In no way could we have overcome what we went through without our faith. We were in the hospital for almost six months. There were times when Randy was in a coma. I know he was talking to God, and God was talking to him. I know they had conversations. I know that in the hospital every night I had conversations with God. There is no way you can overcome something that changes your life so much in an instant, without having that faith. We rely heavily on God. We still do it every day. It is as they say: “By the grace of God, I walk.” This is exactly how we feel.
