CMA Fest: Jesus Calling with Randy Travis, Mary Travis and Ken Abraham

In recent years, Randy Travis has made appearances during CMA Music Fest. I was lucky enough to be able to meet him this year. This year, Travis has the most rigorous CMA Fest schedule he has had following his near-fatal stroke in 2013.

“Forever and Ever, Amen: A Memoir of Music, Faith And The Storms Of Life,” a memoir of Travis written by Travis and Ken Abraham, was released last month. There was a booth for fans to buy copies of the book and Travis made daily appearances to take pictures with fans. He also had an appearance at a Nashville-area Barnes and Noble bookstore.

A panel called “Jesus Calling Presents Conversations With Randy, Mary Travis And Ken Abraham” was held at the Close Up Stage on Friday.

One of the first things discussed was Randy’s relationship with his father. It has been documented that their relationship was turbulent, at times. However, Randy’s dad was supportive of his career. Abraham explained that after Randy’s dad passed away, the family found a box, which contained thing things he had saved about Randy’s career.

Mary said that Randy’s dad passed away the Saturday before Randy’s induction in the Country Music Hall of Fame. He had been expected to attend the induction, but he died unexpectedly. “He was there in spirit,” Mary said.

She said Randy moved to Nashville and he worked as a cook at Nashville Palace. He would come out of the kitchen sometimes and sing. It was his singing at the Nashville Palace that led to being signed by Warner Brothers records.

Mary told the story how Randy came to record “Three Wooden Crosses,” a song that became a number one hit on country, pop and Christian charts. She said Randy had already finished his “Rise and Shine” album when he was given the demo by Kyle Lehning, Randy’s producer. Randy called Lehning after hearing the demo and said he wanted to go back in the studio and include on the album. It became the 16th and final song on the album.

Abraham said Michael Peterson passed the song because thought Randy would do it much better.

A lot of time was spent talking about Randy’s stroke and his road to recovery. Mary said Randy didn’t feel well and he was taken to the emergency room where he was diagnosed with walking pneumonia. She said they returned to the emergency room the next day when Randy woke up and they said he had pneumonia.

“It was a real tough five and a half months,” Mary said. Randy’s stroke wasn’t detected until 72 hours. Both Randy and Mary had a strong faith in God and that helped him through Randy’s health problems. “I knew that Randy was laying in that bed talking to Him,” Mary said.

She said that she was told that she needed to think about pulling the plug on Randy’s life support. Mary said she didn’t want to let him go. “He squeezed my hand,” she said. That’s how she said she knew they were going to fight.

Mary said that doctors told her that Randy probably had a one to two percent chance of surviving. She said Randy had a surgery and she was told that seven things had to go right in order for them not to lose Randy. She said all seven things went right.

Abraham said he was impressed by Randy and Mary’s faith in the Lord. “I don’t know if you’ve seen a miracle before, but you are looking at one this afternoon,” he said.

Mary said several artists came to see Randy and sing for him in the hospital. She said Josh Turner brought his guitar and sang both country and gospel songs for Randy. Other artists such as the Oak Ridge Boys also came to see Randy.

Since Randy had a tube down his throat, they believed Randy’s vocal cords may have been damaged. Mary said Randy was taken to UT Southwestern and it was found that there was no damage to Randy’s vocal cords.

In the six years following Randy’s stroke, it has been a slow road of recovery. Mary said the he had to learn how to do some things over again. At his induction in the Country Music Hall of Fame, Randy sang all four verses of “Amazing Grace,” which is something that left the audience in tears. It took Randy a long time to be able to do that and they worked on each individual word so he could sing the song.

The stories shared during the panel were only a few of the stories covered in Randy’s memoir. They have also appeared on the Jesus Calling podcast.

The book is available where books are sold.