Randy Travis just launched his first new song in over a decade. But fans are wondering exactly how he did it. A big question many have is if Travis used artificial intelligence or AI to complete the new song.
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Randy Travis confirmed to CBS that he used artificial intelligence to create the song. "There's just so much chatter about all the negative sides of AI," said Cris Lacy, co-chair and president of Warner Music Nashville. "We started with this concept of, 'What would AI ... look like for us?' And the first thing that came to mind [was] we would give Randy Travis his voice back."
The studio recreated Travis's voice using another singer and an AI program that went over that singer's voice. Effectively, they resurrected Travis's voice. "Him being here and him being able to be, you know, a vital part of the decision-making process makes all the difference to me," Travis's longtime producer said.
My original theory wasn't that far off. I thought that Travis probably sang the vocals for the song, but he used the assistance of artificial intelligence to help boost his voice in working order. It would still be Travis singing the song, but AI helped bring back some of the magic he lost with the stroke.
Fans commented on it as well. One fan on Reddit wrote, "As a songwriter, this creates a strange paradox... where singers become curators and editors of their own AI-developed content. A lot of classic rock vocalists cannot perform their early work anymore. However, they have a large corpus of work they can feed into AI and then they can serve as copilots to the creative process. Songwriters could potentially become talent managers of their own digital doppelgangers. Weird."
Randy Travis Talks New Song
Fans had previously questioned if it was an unreleased song. One wrote, "He's released several unreleased songs recently. I think two in 2020 & several Holiday songs a year or so ago. But those were all out of the vault & had been recorded in the 80s/90s. The marketing & announcement for this particular new song is different. They have visuals of his band recording on stele guitar. So it's definitely a new recording. Unless it's a Beatles 'Now and Then' thing & Randy's voice was altered from an old audio demo."
Travis opened up about what it means to produce new music.
He wrote, "Eleven years ago I never thought I would be able to have a hand in music production of any kind, but by God's grace and the support of family, friends, fellow artists, and fans, I'm able to create the music I so dearly love. Working with Kyle Lehning and Warner Music Nashville again has been so special and nostalgic, and I'm so excited to share my new song 'Where That Came From' with you today. Many thanks to my wonderful team and the best fans in the world for putting me back in the saddle again! I've enjoyed every moment of it.
