If 22 No. 1 country hits, six No. 1 albums, five Grammys and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame don’t persuade you to see Randy Travis with the Utah Symphony, maybe Carrie Underwood’s endorsement will.
“I’ve always been a Randy Travis fan,” said Underwood, the wildly popular country star, in a news-conference call. “I just remember watching him at awards shows when I was little and just hoping that he would win. I had tapes of his when I was growing up, and he was always a fixture in my musical background.”
Travis’ latest country album is 2008’s “Around the Bend” — a fitting title to describe the North Carolina native’s new gigs performing with symphony orchestras, which go back seven or eight years.
But that doesn’t mean the 51-year-old singer is blasé about it. “It’s a different ballgame for me,” said the deep baritone, one of the few Nashville singers who remain popular by sticking to country’s traditional roots. “Most soundchecks could be done without me, let’s face it. Here, I go through the whole rehearsal, soundcheck. It’s interesting coming from a pure country background.”
Travis said he felt a strong connection to Utah, having filmed seven episodes of the TV series “Touched by an Angel” in the state.
His musical style lends itself well to a symphonic setting, since he eschews the synthesizers and gloss that dominate Nashville-produced music. “Today on country radio, you hear more pop,” he said. “I’d like to see more in a traditional country vein. I’m as far from slick as you can get.”
That doesn’t mean Travis doesn’t lend a hand when younger stars like Underwood name him as an influence. Earlier this year, he and Underwood won a Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals, for a track from Underwood’s platinum-selling album “Play On.” The song was a remake of Travis’ “I Told You So,” originally a hit from his 1988 album “Always and Forever.”
Underwood was looking for a cover song and considering many possibilities when she remembered “I Told You So” and realized it could be sung by a woman. “Then people started making mashups of the song, so we thought, ‘Why not do it right?’ — a real version with just the two of us. And he’s such a great guy. He’s amazing. Through the whole process, of course I loved singing with Randy Travis, and I love singing the song every night on tour, but the best thing to come out of the whole situation is that I consider him a friend now.”
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