June 18, 2024 • 8 mins
JAMES DUPRE is the man who helped create the new Randy Travis song and he joins me today at 1 to discuss it. Find out more about James Dupre and his original music by clicking here. The official music video is below.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I want to bring you guys onthe blog today. There is a really
cool story that I saw on CBSSunday Morning a few weeks ago about a
new song by Randy Travis. Andthat is remarkable because Travis had a significant
stroke and he ended up with aphasia which has robbed him of the ability
to sing and he struggles to speakas well. But he's got a new
(00:20):
song out that uses a combination ofartificial intelligence and the voice of my next
guest to truly bring Randy Travis backto life. And joining me now is
the man who's giving voice to thisproject, James, do pray. James,
thanks for making time for us today. Absolutely, thank you for having
me. Now. You are amusician and a singer in your own right,
(00:42):
and I have to wonder how didthis come about for you that someone
either called you or heard you andsaid, hey, would you like to
be Randy Travis? How did thatconversation occur? Well, so first I
should say that you know, Randyand I have been working together for quite
a few years now. I've knownhim since before his stroke in twenty thirteen,
(01:03):
and we've been touring together since twentynineteen. But this particular song is
one that I recorded in twenty elevenand it was just never released, and
I thought it was just you know, collecting dust on a shelf all these
years. But apparently Kyle Lenning,who produced that project on me, who
(01:23):
also produced Randy's entire career, hehad had this song in his back pocket
all these years after we recorded it. And basically when I went to I
went to Nashville earlier this year tofor a meeting what they told me was
a meeting about the tour dates thisyear, and it was actually to show
me the song and to see,if you know, what I thought about
(01:47):
it, and to see if Iwanted to work with him on this project
moving forward. So it was,you know, quite a surprise, but
very fascinating and exciting. It isfascinating, and I'm glad you use that
word because just the technology behind this, and if you could, I don't
know how much you know about thetechnology behind this, but if you can
(02:08):
explain how they took your voice andyet made it sound so much like Randy.
Travis and I listened to one ofyour songs this morning, and you
have a beautiful voice, and yousound kind of like Randy Travis, But
you don't sound exactly like him,So how did they make that happen?
Yeah, well, you know,Randy has a very unique tone and voice
(02:30):
in general, so it's very hardsound to sound like this. But the
technology, from what they explained tome, was for months that they've been
with Kyle Lenning, like I said, who produced Randy, had been working
with these people from England. Ibelieve that he took like forty two tracks
(02:52):
of Randy's vocals from his early careerall the way through his later years,
and they built this AI model aroundon his vocals, and then they took
this song, this new song,and they ran my vocal track through the
Randy AI model and it came outsounding more or less like Randy Travis.
(03:13):
It's amazing. I mean, it'sreally really amazing. But I have to
ask you, as an artist,is this I mean, how does this
fit in with your own ego?And and I'm it's kind of an existential
question really because I think it wouldbe kind of hard to know that that
is you singing. But at thesame time, it has to be really
(03:34):
cool to give him his voice back. Yeah, exactly. I mean I
appreciate the recognition that I've gotten fromthis project and the credit and I mean,
and honestly, just to be partof something so groundbreaking, yeah,
is really cool, you know.And you know, they're inventing a new
credits for for my part. It'scalled a vocal bed, which which I
(03:59):
just find really cool. But also, you know, like I said,
Randy and I have known each otherfor a long time and he's done a
lot for me and my family inmy career, and this is something that
he chose to do and wanted todo and asked me to be a part
of. And and I'm you know, gladly, would you know be a
part of that? Well? Youyou have a very similar timber in your
(04:20):
voice, and it's not, likeI said, it's not exactly the same.
You don't you a vocal clone.But I think that is what makes
this work. I think if youdidn't have that same timber to your voice,
I don't know if it would work. I mean, did you hear
them try to do this with anyother singer? That's kind of what I
what I'm getting at. Could theydo this with another singer? Is it
because your voice is already complimentary tohis? I think that's what it is.
(04:46):
Because they did they did, likeexperiment around with other singers and other
songs, and you know, Kylejust said it didn't quite sound right.
It didn't sound like Randy. Andnobody knows Randy's voice more than Kyle inning
right, and so he, youknow, he basically said, my voice
was quote unquote the magic sauce.So you made it work. That's really
(05:09):
really cool. Now you guys havebeen doing a little bit of touring together,
right even now, how does thatwork? I mean, because it's
my understanding, Randy can't release singat all, can't he correct He So
in twenty nineteen, Mary, hiswife, called me and said, uh,
you know, Randy, it's beensix years. At the time,
it was six years since the stroke. And you know, Randy's wants to
(05:30):
go on the road. He misseshis band, he misses, you know,
seeing his fans. And they gotthis idea of doing this, this
concert, this tour of you know, with his old band, and it's
basically a Randy Travis concert. It'shis music, it's his band, he
does a meet and greet, he'son the stage for the entire performance.
The only difference is that it's mesinging his songs and not him, but
(05:54):
he's still there interacting with the fans, and you know, it's it's a
really cool, cool and there's video. Yeah, it's video of like his
career and you know, his actingcareer goes into and you know, horse
his trick horse training. I mean, it's just a really fascinating type of
things. So if if anybody,we were in Tolraado Springs in twenty twenty
(06:16):
two and it was an amazing time. And you know, if anybody is
curious to go on YouTube and checkit out. That's a really great show.
Now are you still you're touring underyour own name and your own music
right, correct, Yes, I'mstill doing my own thing on the side
as far as i'm you know,whenever I'm not on the road with Randy.
(06:38):
You know, I just think thisis such an interesting story on so
many levels. I didn't know youguys were friends for a long time before
this happened. That makes it evenbetter because that whole angle. I think
that also probably if you if youhad somebody who was either not a friend
or not as familiar with Randy's music, I wonder if the ego thing would
be harder. And that's that's oneof those things where it's like, you
(07:00):
know you've created, now you're ajeopardy answer. You realize this, right,
James, because now in thirty years, it's going to be like what
artists got the first vocal bed creditfrom you? But I do think it's
going to be an interesting genre asartists get older and they don't they can't
hit the notes that they used tohit anymore. I mean, I know
that I've seen some older artists thatI thought to myself after at the concert,
(07:23):
they probably should have hung it upa few years ago. I think
this is like a very groundbreaking thingthat could help artists continue to do what
Randy's doing right now. I justthink it's super cool. Yeah, you
know, and you know, technologyand music have been kind of working together
for a long time now. Thisis obviously a whole different can of worms,
you know, that you know,could end up being used in the
(07:46):
wrong ways. And that's that's reallythe big story I think about this whole
thing is that you know, isthis a good thing or a bad thing?
And you know, in this particularcase, I believe this was a
good use of AI because yeah,you can't sing anymore, and his involvement
is also very crucial. Well,that's a great distinction to make that there
(08:07):
are going to be downsides, andthis was one of the big issues with
the Actors strike recently in Hollywood ishow can my image and my voice be
used when I am not actively apart of something, And that was a
big sticking point. So that's agreat point this is it's being used for
good and we can already see wherebad actors are going to use it for
for ill, So at least there'sa positive here. Yes, absolutely.
(08:31):
James du Pray is my guest.You can find him at James dupray dot
com. I linked on the blogtoday. I also embedded the video of
the song so you can hear thesong, and I embeded the CBS Sunday
Morning story, which was really interesting. So that's kind of why you're here
because I saw that and I justthought, wow, that's that's really really
cool. James. I really appreciateyou making time for us today. Absolutely,
(08:52):
thank you so much for having me. All Right, I have a
great one that is James Dupray
I want to bring you guys onthe blog today. There is a really
cool story that I saw on CBSSunday Morning a few weeks ago about a
new song by Randy Travis. Andthat is remarkable because Travis had a significant
stroke and he ended up with aphasia which has robbed him of the ability
to sing and he struggles to speakas well. But he's got a new
(00:20):
song out that uses a combination ofartificial intelligence and the voice of my next
guest to truly bring Randy Travis backto life. And joining me now is
the man who's giving voice to thisproject, James, do pray. James,
thanks for making time for us today. Absolutely, thank you for having
me. Now. You are amusician and a singer in your own right,
(00:42):
and I have to wonder how didthis come about for you that someone
either called you or heard you andsaid, hey, would you like to
be Randy Travis? How did thatconversation occur? Well, so first I
should say that you know, Randyand I have been working together for quite
a few years now. I've knownhim since before his stroke in twenty thirteen,
(01:03):
and we've been touring together since twentynineteen. But this particular song is
one that I recorded in twenty elevenand it was just never released, and
I thought it was just you know, collecting dust on a shelf all these
years. But apparently Kyle Lenning,who produced that project on me, who
(01:23):
also produced Randy's entire career, hehad had this song in his back pocket
all these years after we recorded it. And basically when I went to I
went to Nashville earlier this year tofor a meeting what they told me was
a meeting about the tour dates thisyear, and it was actually to show
me the song and to see,if you know, what I thought about
(01:47):
it, and to see if Iwanted to work with him on this project
moving forward. So it was,you know, quite a surprise, but
very fascinating and exciting. It isfascinating, and I'm glad you use that
word because just the technology behind this, and if you could, I don't
know how much you know about thetechnology behind this, but if you can
(02:08):
explain how they took your voice andyet made it sound so much like Randy.
Travis and I listened to one ofyour songs this morning, and you
have a beautiful voice, and yousound kind of like Randy Travis, But
you don't sound exactly like him,So how did they make that happen?
Yeah, well, you know,Randy has a very unique tone and voice
(02:30):
in general, so it's very hardsound to sound like this. But the
technology, from what they explained tome, was for months that they've been
with Kyle Lenning, like I said, who produced Randy, had been working
with these people from England. Ibelieve that he took like forty two tracks
(02:52):
of Randy's vocals from his early careerall the way through his later years,
and they built this AI model aroundon his vocals, and then they took
this song, this new song,and they ran my vocal track through the
Randy AI model and it came outsounding more or less like Randy Travis.
(03:13):
It's amazing. I mean, it'sreally really amazing. But I have to
ask you, as an artist,is this I mean, how does this
fit in with your own ego?And and I'm it's kind of an existential
question really because I think it wouldbe kind of hard to know that that
is you singing. But at thesame time, it has to be really
(03:34):
cool to give him his voice back. Yeah, exactly. I mean I
appreciate the recognition that I've gotten fromthis project and the credit and I mean,
and honestly, just to be partof something so groundbreaking, yeah,
is really cool, you know.And you know, they're inventing a new
credits for for my part. It'scalled a vocal bed, which which I
(03:59):
just find really cool. But also, you know, like I said,
Randy and I have known each otherfor a long time and he's done a
lot for me and my family inmy career, and this is something that
he chose to do and wanted todo and asked me to be a part
of. And and I'm you know, gladly, would you know be a
part of that? Well? Youyou have a very similar timber in your
(04:20):
voice, and it's not, likeI said, it's not exactly the same.
You don't you a vocal clone.But I think that is what makes
this work. I think if youdidn't have that same timber to your voice,
I don't know if it would work. I mean, did you hear
them try to do this with anyother singer? That's kind of what I
what I'm getting at. Could theydo this with another singer? Is it
because your voice is already complimentary tohis? I think that's what it is.
(04:46):
Because they did they did, likeexperiment around with other singers and other
songs, and you know, Kylejust said it didn't quite sound right.
It didn't sound like Randy. Andnobody knows Randy's voice more than Kyle inning
right, and so he, youknow, he basically said, my voice
was quote unquote the magic sauce.So you made it work. That's really
(05:09):
really cool. Now you guys havebeen doing a little bit of touring together,
right even now, how does thatwork? I mean, because it's
my understanding, Randy can't release singat all, can't he correct He So
in twenty nineteen, Mary, hiswife, called me and said, uh,
you know, Randy, it's beensix years. At the time,
it was six years since the stroke. And you know, Randy's wants to
(05:30):
go on the road. He misseshis band, he misses, you know,
seeing his fans. And they gotthis idea of doing this, this
concert, this tour of you know, with his old band, and it's
basically a Randy Travis concert. It'shis music, it's his band, he
does a meet and greet, he'son the stage for the entire performance.
The only difference is that it's mesinging his songs and not him, but
(05:54):
he's still there interacting with the fans, and you know, it's it's a
really cool, cool and there's video. Yeah, it's video of like his
career and you know, his actingcareer goes into and you know, horse
his trick horse training. I mean, it's just a really fascinating type of
things. So if if anybody,we were in Tolraado Springs in twenty twenty
(06:16):
two and it was an amazing time. And you know, if anybody is
curious to go on YouTube and checkit out. That's a really great show.
Now are you still you're touring underyour own name and your own music
right, correct, Yes, I'mstill doing my own thing on the side
as far as i'm you know,whenever I'm not on the road with Randy.
(06:38):
You know, I just think thisis such an interesting story on so
many levels. I didn't know youguys were friends for a long time before
this happened. That makes it evenbetter because that whole angle. I think
that also probably if you if youhad somebody who was either not a friend
or not as familiar with Randy's music, I wonder if the ego thing would
be harder. And that's that's oneof those things where it's like, you
(07:00):
know you've created, now you're ajeopardy answer. You realize this, right,
James, because now in thirty years, it's going to be like what
artists got the first vocal bed creditfrom you? But I do think it's
going to be an interesting genre asartists get older and they don't they can't
hit the notes that they used tohit anymore. I mean, I know
that I've seen some older artists thatI thought to myself after at the concert,
(07:23):
they probably should have hung it upa few years ago. I think
this is like a very groundbreaking thingthat could help artists continue to do what
Randy's doing right now. I justthink it's super cool. Yeah, you
know, and you know, technologyand music have been kind of working together
for a long time now. Thisis obviously a whole different can of worms,
you know, that you know,could end up being used in the
(07:46):
wrong ways. And that's that's reallythe big story I think about this whole
thing is that you know, isthis a good thing or a bad thing?
And you know, in this particularcase, I believe this was a
good use of AI because yeah,you can't sing anymore, and his involvement
is also very crucial. Well,that's a great distinction to make that there
(08:07):
are going to be downsides, andthis was one of the big issues with
the Actors strike recently in Hollywood ishow can my image and my voice be
used when I am not actively apart of something, And that was a
big sticking point. So that's agreat point this is it's being used for
good and we can already see wherebad actors are going to use it for
for ill, So at least there'sa positive here. Yes, absolutely.
(08:31):
James du Pray is my guest.You can find him at James dupray dot
com. I linked on the blogtoday. I also embedded the video of
the song so you can hear thesong, and I embeded the CBS Sunday
Morning story, which was really interesting. So that's kind of why you're here
because I saw that and I justthought, wow, that's that's really really
cool. James. I really appreciateyou making time for us today. Absolutely,
(08:52):
thank you so much for having me. All Right, I have a
great one that is James Dupray
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