Randy Travis Hopes to One Day Record New Music

Nearly four years ago, Randy Travis was hospitalized for a viral cardiomyopathy, a disorder than attacks the muscles of the heart. The disorder led to congestive heart failure, resulting in a stroke that left Travis unable to walk or talk. But now, after many intense hours of therapy, the singer is defying the odds and celebrating every milestone he reaches with his wife Mary.

“It’s little things that mean so much when you’re recovering from a stroke,” Mary told CNN at this past weekend’s BeautyKind Unites: Concert for Causes at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. “We never know when the end point is but we’re happy with every little change, every little sound, every little word, every new task.”

Travis has one of those milestones recently, when he looked up and read a sign while he and Mary were driving home from a vacation.

“We were coming out of Memphis and overhead was a sign, ‘Nashville’ and he was over in the passenger seat and went, ‘woo hoo’ and he pointed up and he said, ‘Nashville,'” recalled Mary. “I just sat over there in the driver’s seat and cried because I knew then that he read that sign, and he recognized the word, and then he said it. That’s a huge thing. Huge for us.”

Listening to music has played an integral part in his recovery, but it was only recently that he was able to listen to the songs he had recorded himself.

“Music is his soul,” she explained. “It was really hard for him soon after the stroke to listen to his music. I remembered when I first put his music on, he cried and I thought, ok, we’re not ready for that.”

After some time, Travis was able to listen to his old songs, including “Diggin’ Up Bones,” “He Walked On Water,” as well as gospel music.

While he’s still in recovery and regaining his speech, Travis does have plans to one day record new music.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he told the outlet eagerly.