(17 Feb 2017) COUNTRY STARS ON THE FIRST TIME THEY HEARD RANDY TRAVIS SING Randy Travis' unmistakable baritone voice shook up the country airwaves when he debuted in the late 1980s with songs like "On the Other Hand" that ushered in a wave of neo-traditional country music. Travis, who is recovering from a stroke he suffered in 2013, was honored by many of his peers during a concert this month in Nashville, Tennessee, that also featured younger singers who grew up listening to his voice on the radio. "Buy Me A Boat" singer Chris Jansen said hearing Travis made him want to pursue music. "Well, anytime you hear Randy Travis' music, it's an experience, period," said Jansen. "Because it's real, number one. It's real stories and I can identify with them. So when I heard it, I was like, 'Wow, this is what country music is and I want to do that.'" "American Idol" alum Scotty McCreery said in North Carolina, Travis was all over the stereo. "I grew up back in North Carolina and he is royalty back there in country music," McCreery said. "I would say it was very early on. I was learning his stuff on guitar and playing it all over the place. So I was a young kid for sure." Mark Chesnutt said Travis' voice reminded him of George Jones. "The first time I heard Randy Travis was back in the '80s, I guess," Chesnutt said. "Maybe '85 or something like that. I was driving my truck up to Jasper, Texas to do a gig I had booked up there. I was listening to the radio and they played a brand new record by a guy named Randy Travis. And they played 'On the Other Hand.' And right then, man, I just couldn't stand it anymore. I thought, 'Wow, this is what it's all about.' I finally heard a guy that had a voice that reminded me of George Jones, but was his own." Joe Nichols said his father played him Travis' debut album, "Storms of Life" while they were taking his mother to the hospital to give birth to Nichols' baby sister. "My dad had just bought the 'Storms of Life' tape," Nichols said. "1987 I believe. The tape had been out a couple of years. He loved the song '1982' and 'I Told You So,' 'On the Other Hand.' And he finally bought the record and I think he put it in when we were driving about 20-30 minutes to deliver my little sister. It was something that I wanted to repeat over and over again. And I thought it was a really great country song. So I feel in love with it immediately." You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/0cb68401b7f4816ddbd6225dbfbadb9d Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork