Randy Travis Contemplates His Future

Randy Travis photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

Sept. 30, 2008 — Randy Travis has had a successful career in country music for more than two decades, but he’s also a realist about his place in the business. Some of his heroes, including George Jones and Merle Haggard, eventually had a hard time getting their music played on country radio, and Randy is confident the same thing will happen at some point in time both to him and to George Strait.

"There's no doubt about it," he told The Cincinnati Enquirer. "How long that will be, I don't know. I'm happy to see there are people like Josh Turner, for instance, and Brad Paisley and a few others coming along continuing to do that kind of traditional music. Josh Turner is a great singer, and I'm happy to see he's in this business. But it's going to continue to swing back and forth from pop to country."

In his own career, Randy swings back and forth between country and gospel music, and between music and the movies. All those interests have turned his personal calendar into a big Rubik’s cube, and that’s cost him some really nice opportunities on occasion.

"I've had a couple of offers but because of time restraints I couldn't make it fit in," he noted. "I did a reading on 3:10 To Yuma for the casting person and then caught a flight to the East Coast out of L.A., then got a callback the next day to read for the director, and I said I can't do it. Just because of time restraints. I have other jobs to do."

Among the recent movies Randy was able to fit into his itinerary are The Wager and National Treasure: Book Of Secrets. His calendar for this week includes a concert appearances Friday and Saturday in Minot, N.D.