It was 35 years ago on Wednesday, July 29, that Randy Travis released his debut single, “On the Other Hand.” To celebrate the milestone, the Country Music Hall of Fame member is releasing a brand-new single, “Fool’s Love Affair.” The song was recorded years ago, long before Randy’s debilitating stroke, and recently discovered by one of the songwriters, Charlie Monk, while cleaning out his office.

“I’ve always wanted to be a songwriter,” Charlie shared with Everything Nash and other outlets. “I never wrote a hit, but I think I’m about to be part of one. I’m really excited about it, for lots of reasons.”

Randy kicked off a new wave of country music with “On the Other Hand,” from his freshman Storms of Life album, although no one suspected it at the time, least of all Randy.

“All I knew was that he was as pure of an artist as I ever encountered,” producer Kyle Lehning recalled. “He was absolutely clear about who he was and what he wanted to do. I just loved the sound of his voice. There’s a pretty well-documented story when we finished recording Storms of Life, when we finished the album, Randy and I sat in my studio. I played it in sequence from the beginning to the end. Listened to the whole thing. And when it finished up, I said, ‘You know, I’ve done the math on how much money we’ve spent to make this record. And I figure if we can sell 40,000 albums, they might let us make another record.’ And that was really the only thing I wanted to do was be able to make another record.”

Storms of Life sold an astonishing four million copies, sealing Randy’s future as a country music superstar. Although the 61-year-old has, at least for now, lost his ability to sing, Randy’s wife, Mary, and Kyle both hint there might be a lot more songs in the future from Randy.

“There are songs that Kyle has found that just wonderful songs,” Mary said. “I don’t think that most of them have ever been heard.”

“We have a nice back [catalog]. We have found some stuff in the archives, but there are some political issues,” Kyle shared. “We can’t figure out who wrote the song, but there are recordings and they have been finished up and they’re sitting there. I don’t know when that’s gonna come out.

“Right now, this is the only thing  from back in that time that’s legally okay to put out there,” he added. “We have a couple of project things, but they’re a ways off from ever seeing the light of day, but they’re finished.”

Randy detailed his life story, including his illness and recovery, in his 2019 memoir, Forever and Ever, Amen, which was recently named the Best Country Music Book of All Time. The book is is available for purchase at Amazon.