Gold Angel Winner

Randy Travis doesn't fancy up his songs. He delivers straight country music....simple, pure, heartfelt... often about hard times...which he is known himself. And the results is that he has become one of the most loved and admired stars of this era. He's come a long way. At 8 his father gave him a guitar. At 10 he and a brother were singing at church affairs. At 16 he won $100 in a talent contest at a Charlotte, North Carolina, nightclub. The owner , LIB HATCHER, couldn't believe the lonely, hunting quality of that voice. She gave him a job, singing part-time, washing dishes, sweeping floors, deep frying catfish.

After six years, LIB HATCHER bought a nightclub in Nashville, and Randy Travis was again singing. Every label turned him down. But LIB HATCHER was brilliant and dogged, and eventually she talked Warner Records into taking a gamble. Soon Randy Travis was an overnight sensation. Overnight meaning after 10 years of struggling. The press swarmed about him. He was given every award the music industry had. Millions loved this straight off guy with no pretenses. .. quiet, laid-back, with boyish smiled... and in his eyes and voice, conserned for others. His STOR OF LIFE has become almost a two -- Platinum (two million copies) winner... and ALWAYS AND FOREVER a platinum, too. He took success as easily as he sang. He had no illusions about fame.

The record company suggested he should get an expensive barber, maybe even some "good" clothes. He didn't think so. The story goes that a newspaper man asked if he could meet him in a bar one afternoon for an interview. So they met in a bar -- a soda fountain one. Randy ordered strong drink, a milk shake. Excellence in Media bestows it because of a voice that has brought comforts and hope to many, songs that suggest a way out of problems too heavy for some to bear... a Gold Angel to an easygoing guy has never lost the faith of his boyhood.

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