The songs waited in a vault in Los Angeles, some for as long as 40 years.
But now, thanks to a curious music producer and a star who lost his voice but never his vision, those songs have emerged from the ranks of the unheard.
"Same Old Way," a new album of previously unreleased Randy Travis songs from across his four-plus-decade career, dropped Sept. 4.
"It’s always fun to find treasures in the attic," Travis said in a statement. "'Same Old Way' cuts include songs I wrote, co-wrote, demoed, and/or recorded from my late 20s to my early 50s, and now that Kyle Lehning, my career-long producer, has pulled them out and dusted them off, we’re ready to share them with the world!"
It has been more than a decade since Travis dropped new music. Travis had
released gospel albums ("Influence Vols. 1 and 2: The Man I Am") in 2013 and 2014 just before and just after a July 2013 stroke left him with aphasia, a condition that left him unable to speak more than a few words.
Travis released a single, "Where That Came From," in 2024 that was made by an artificial intelligence duplication of his singing voice plus the voice of sound-alike singer James Dupre.
"Though the aphasia from my stroke keeps me from recording new music, it doesn’t diminish my excitement in bringing you new songs from the vault," Travis' statement said "I count my blessings every day that I can still have a hand in the music I love so much, and that many of the fans from years gone by, young and old, are still there to support me.
"I sure hope you enjoy the wide range of musical choices on my new album … done the 'Same Old Way'!"
The new album is fresh and nostalgic at the same time.
"Same Old Way" is 12 tracks and includes three songs ("Fish On," "Set the Blues Back" and "They Call It a Church") that Travis debuted in July at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
This has been a huge year for the singer.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee proclaimed June 2 as "Randy Travis Day" in Nashville.
On June 3, the Nashville Palace, a honky tonk that sits about 100 yards from its former site, formally named its front bar "The Randy Travis Room" to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Travis' first album, "Storms of Life."
"Storms of Life" sold almost 4 million units in 1986, and went platinum within a year. That album had four top 10 country hits: "On the Other Hand," "Diggin' Up Bones," "1982" and "No Place Like Home."
Travis, who was raised in North Carolina, overcame a history of arrests and alcohol abuse. He moved to Nashville in the early 1980s, and got a job at the Nashville Palace as a cook. He went by Randy Ray then. He would ask for a break from his cooking duties, take off his apron and take the stage with the Nashville Palace's house band.
It was the early 1980s when the young man who the world would come to know as Randy Travis began unleashing his baritone pipes on country songs.
Travis forged a career that culminated when he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016. He has made 20 studio albums and more than 50 singles that hit the Billboard Hot Country charts, including 16 No. 1s. He has won seven Grammy Awards and 11 Academy of Country Music Awards.
Lehning found the tracks while poking around who poked around the climate-controlled vault in Los Angeles and showed what he found to Randy and his wife, Mary Travis. Randy Travis was part of the selection process for the new album, Mary said.
"The songs are all over the place," said Mary Travis, who has spoken for her husband since his stroke. "Some happy songs, some breakup songs, some love songs − in other words, typical Randy Travis songs."
Mary Travis said all the songs had been set aside during Randy's career because they didn't fit on particular albums. They said in
"Good things are worth waiting for," she said.
"Same Old Way" track list
"I Know Where I'd Be Without You"
"Fish On"
"I Don't Care"
"Just Read the Signs"
"Mission of Love"
"I Catch 'Em"
"There's No Getting Over You"
"They Call it a Church"
"One Tear at a Time"
"My Greatest Fear"
"Set the Blues Back"
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 'Same Old Way.' Randy Travis' new album features songs from his past
