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Randy Travis
Travis burst onto the country scene in the mid-1980s around the same time as a few other seemingly like-minded new traditionalists, and it seemed that country music might get good again -- for about a second. He combines a smoothly expressive baritone with self-penned, excellently chosen material that features lyrical depth as well as great Honky Tonk-style instrumental work. Starting in 1985 with "On The Other Hand," Travis has gone into the charts and sold a huge number of records. He virtually kicked open the door for the "country hunk" phenomenon of the '90s.
b. Randy Bruce Traywick, 4 May 1959, Marshville, North Carolina, USA. The second of the six children of Harold and Bobbie Rose Traywick, this singer-songwriter shows in his style and delivery the heavy influence of Lefty Frizzell and Merle Haggard. His father, a builder, was a country music fanatic who even built a music room complete with stage onto the Travis' house just so that the family could perform for friends. Although not a working musician, he played guitar, wrote songs, on occasions performed in public and had once recorded two of his songs, "A Lonely Shadow" and "The Reason I Came". He is also reputed to have had problems with drink and later acquired a reputation for his drinking, fighting, shooting and generally frightening people around the Marshville area. In 1982, he lost his home and everything else, after a venture into turkey-farming went wrong (he managed to regain his home in 1985). Through his father's insistence, Randy learned guitar and began performing publicly with his elder brother Ricky, a more accomplished guitarist, when he was nine. The two were later joined by bass-playing brother David and with their father arranging the bookings, they played local clubs over a wide area.
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Artist Biography - Randy Travis
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 Over the years they were frequently in trouble with the law for varying offences such as drunkenness, theft, drugs and driving offences, including being clocked by the police at 135 miles an hour. While on probation in 1977, Travis appeared at the Country City USA, a Charlotte nightclub managed and co-owned by Lib Hatcher (Mary Elizabeth Robertson). Impressed by his vocals, she found him regular work at the club and also provided him with a home, although the association soon saw her divorced from husband Frank Hatcher. Under her guidance (in spite of objections from his father, whom she eventually banned from the club) and with variations made to his probation orders, Travis began to develop his musical career. She financed his first recordings (as Randy Traywick), made on the Paula label under Joe Stampley's production in Nashville, which resulted in "She's My Woman" making a brief US country chart appearance in 1979. In 1981 Travis and Hatcher moved to Nashville. The following year she became manager of the Nashville Palace nightclub and hired Travis (under the name of Randy Ray) as the resident singer, who also assisted as a dishwasher and cook. In November 1982, he recorded his first album, Randy Ray Live At The Nashville Palace, and gradually, through Hatcher's shrewd management, he began to establish himself around Nashville.
Late in 1984, he came to the attention of Martha Sharp, an A&R director of Warner Brothers Records, who was looking for a young and preferably sexy-looking singer to record following the successes at CBS Records by Ricky Skaggs and at MCA by George Strait. With another name change, this time to Randy Travis (at the suggestion of Sharp) and under the production of Kyle Lehning, he cut four tracks on 30 January 1985. "Prairie Rose" was used on the soundtrack album for the Patrick Wayne (son of John) film Rustler's Rhapsody. "On The Other Hand" made number 67 on the US country charts. Two weeks later Travis officially signed a contract with Warner Brothers. Soon afterwards, he scored his first Top 10 hit with "1982". The year 1986 was an important one for him with reissues of "On The Other Hand" and "Diggin' Up Bones" both making number 1 and "No Place Like Home" peaking at number 2. His first Warners album, Storms Of Life, became the first country debut album to sell a million within a year of issue, he won a Grammy as Best Country Newcomer and he joined the Grand Ole Opry.
In 1987-88, he registered six more successive number 1s with "Forever And Ever, Amen", "I Won't Need You Anymore (Always And Forever)", "Too Gone Too Long", "I Told You So" (a self-penned song), "Honky Tonk Moon" and "Deeper Than The Holler". The majority of the songs were composed by noted songwriters, including Don Schlitz, Paul Overstreet, Troy Seals and Max Barnes. By 1988, Travis was a superstar and had collected a great many awards along the way, including that of Male Vocalist of the Year by the Country Music Association. In 1989, he survived a car crash and registered further number 1s with "Is It Still Over" and "It's Just A Matter Of Time" (the latter song was co-written by Brook Benton, and recorded under the production of famed producer Richard Perry, who used the recording as the only country number on his noted Rock Rhythm And Blues compilation album). An attempt at more varied material with "Promises", cut with only an acoustic guitar, failed by his standards when it peaked at number 17. In 1990, Heroes And Friends drew glowing reviews and found him duetting with a number of stars including Merle Haggard, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and non-country notables such as B.B. King and Clint Eastwood; "Happy Trails" was recorded with singing cowboy legend Roy Rogers.
In 1990-91, Travis faced strong competition from Ricky Van Shelton, Clint Black and Garth Brooks, but he registered further number 1 hits with "Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart" and "Forever Together". In 1991, it was revealed that he had married Lib Hatcher, putting an end to a long period of speculation about his private life and the nature of their relationship. Pundits reckoned the affair would harm his career, but the simultaneous release of two greatest hits collections in 1992 confirmed his continued popularity, and produced another number 1 hit, "Look Heart, No Hands". Also in 1992, Travis made a television documentary about western music, Wind In The Water, together with an album of the same name. He returned to a more conventional format with This Is Me and the songs were as strong as ever. Full Circle was another consistent album and featured the Mark Knopfler penned "Are We In Trouble Now". In addition to a busy acting schedule, Travis does much charity work for Operation Smile, an organization to help children with facial deformities. He was the first modern performer to demonstrate that country music could appeal to a wider public, and perhaps Garth Brooks owes him a debt. After a minor slump in his fortunes Travis left Warners in 1997 and signed to the new DreamWorks label, where releases such as You And You Alone and A Man Ain't Made Of Stone helped revive his career. Travis left DreamWorks in 2000, returning to Warners to record the devotional album Inspirational Journey. Travis has managed to stay in the foreground throughout a time in country music where his brand of new country has been superseded by younger artists. His lasting appeal was emphasized in 2003 when he was once again at the top of the Billboard chart with "Three Wooden Crosses".
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For more information , enjoy the official homepage of Randy Travis
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