Randy Travis looks back on “Storms of Life” album nearly 25 years later
Country music star Randy Travis, who is playing shows in Tulsa and Concho this weekend, is in the planning stages of a 25th anniversary album to be released next year.
“Because of what it is, we just want to make it as special as we can,” he told me in a recent phone interview.
In 1986, the North Carolina native released his genre-altering debut album “Storms of Life,” which ushered in the neotraditionalist sound after the post-urban cowboy bust.
In our interview, Travis recalled that he started out with a three-single deal at Warner Bros., which meant the label was giving him three chances to make it big. He broke into the top 10 with “1982,” his second single; the label then re-released his first single, “On the Other Hand,” which initially fell off the charts around the 60s. The second time around, it became a No. 1 hit.
He still recalls rushing to finish “Storms of Life” with now-longtime producer Kyle Lehning, who told Travis that if he could sell at least 40,000 copies, they would get the chance to make another record.
“That would be nice, wouldn’t it?,” he remembers joking.
“Storms of Life” went on to sell more than 3 million units. No joke.
Lehning isn’t the only collaborator Travis is still working with decades later. This weekend, he will take the stage with fiddler David Johnson, whom he has been performing with for 33 years. They started making music together back when Travis was playing the nightclub Country City USA in Charlotte, N.C.
Travis also credits God’s grace and good material for giving him a lengthy career.
“Heck, I don’t know, the grace of God, I guess,” he said with a laugh before getting more serious. “I was joking about the grace of God, the favor of God, but I do strongly believe in that. But to me, when you look at the beginning of a career, you can take a mediocre singer if you have a good enough song, you can have a hit. … The choice of material to start that career is one of the most important things.
“All right, then you gotta have everything else to go with that. You need to be able to sing, obviously, you need to know what you can sing, what you should sing, pick what you like. That sounds real simple, but when you start doing that, then you get into (wondering) ‘Let’s see, is that something radio would play?’ You’ve gotta fight to keep away from trying to figure those things out because that’s a losing battle.
“So choose what you love, sing what you truly love and only that. This is what I believe.”
In concert
Randy Travis
When: 8 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Interstate 44 East at Exit 240A, Tulsa.
Information: (800) 760-6700 or www.hardrockcasinotulsa.com.
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Lucky Star Casino Concho, 7777 N Highway 81, El Reno.
Information: (405) 262-7612 or www.luckystarcasino.org.
-BAM
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