Thank you to Diane Diekman, University of Illinois Press, and Netgalley for the ARC. My review is voluntary and all opinions are my own.

I initially thought this was to be Randy's autobiography. That was an earlier book. This initially was a lot of statistics and dates of his career. A lot of which I thought could be found on Wikipedia. I continued reading and found some details of his life from the time of his divorce from Lib Hatcher to present day. Reading of his illness and how far he has come was very inspirational. I was always a Randy Travis fan, but did not know how bad it had been for him.

How does an artist and their body of work become worthy of examination? Is it their impact and their legacy, like Elvis Presley? Is it their mysterious persona, like Prince? Is it the unanswered questions about their life, like Luther Vandross?

I must admit, I've never thought to myself, "I'm curious to learn more about Randy Travis," but Diane Diekman's new by-the-book, well-researched biography Randy Travis: Storms of Life (University of Illinois Press, $34.95) begs to differ. And when you read her book, you'll see why the Country Music Hall of Famer and seven-time Grammy winner is just as worthy of retrospection as anyone, regardless of his legacy outside of his genre.

It may surprise people how raunchy a lot of this book is, especially considering that Travis is well-known as a gospel artist, the deep baritone behind songs like "Three Wooden Crosses," "The Carpenter," and "Drive Another Nail." The boy formerly known as Randy Traywick's child and young adulthoods were filled with DUIs, thefts, and resisting arrest charges. People can change, of course, but I do think a couple aunties will get this book for Christmas, unaware of Randy's redemption story, and their eyes will bulge out of their heads.

Music, naturally, was Randy's way out of trouble. Well, criminal trouble, that is - he was still messy. His first manager was also his first wife, even though she was married, 18 years older than him, and, ahem, his boss. That's...kinda crazy! These are the eponymous storms of life, I suppose.

I often take issue with biographies when I feel like too much of the text is spent on private and personal issues, and not enough time is spent on the thing that made them well-known enough to have biographies written about them. Obviously their personal matters are important, but sometimes I feel like I'm reading a book about a singer who never sings. Diekman strikes a good balance, giving context to Randy's decision-making while charting his success. I want to read about the Grand Ole Opry and "Forever and Ever, Amen" and honky tonks and the Grammys. Her book doesn't gloss over anything.

It doesn't seem to be particularly revelatory for Travis fans, perhaps more of an extended Wikipedia article than an enlightening or perspective-shifting project, but that's fine with me because it's what I was looking for. I've always liked his voice and a few of his tunes (I once had a dream that I was his new accordion player - I don't play the accordion. I don't know, it was a dream...) and have followed with interest his life and career post-stroke (including his fascinating contributions to the AI conversation), but that's about it. I appreciated this whole-hearted retrospective.

I've made it a mission of mine to read some more musical biographies and histories this summer. I like projects! Now that I've finished Randy Travis: Storms of Life, I'm reading Richard Bienstock and Tom Beaujour's new Lollapalooza oral history and I think I'll get to Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald. What else should I read?

Randy Travis; Storms Of Life by Diane Diekman, how apropos is a biography on Randy Travis who is once again in the hospital battling life-threatening health issues. I have since the very first album Been a huge fan of the country music singer and loved his music and his love for God. my opinion of this book is that either Randy Travis didn’t have a lot of great personal moments because I found the author bombarded us with details that could’ve been left out. From how his Manager booked a concert dates to when he switched from intravenous medication to oral medication and on and on. I found they were needless details as well as mentioning tour dates that had nothing special about them I did like the moment in the book when the author told us about all the mini stars he wrote and performed songs with everyone from George Jones to even Don Henley and B.B. King he truly has had an impressive career especially for one cut so short by his stroke in 2013. I do think country music fans still to this day mention Jerry Lewis is 13 year-old wife but I noticed no one not even the author who wrote this book talked about how Elizabeth Huxley first became Randy’s Guardians in juvenile court along with her husband Frank until he caught them together when Randy was 24. I always wondered why I had never heard of Randy having a girlfriend but after reading this biography I see why even before he made it big wherever Elizabeth worked she seemed to always have a job for Randy nearby. I’m just glad since divorcing her he’s had a chance to be with his peer and not an elder there’s something so gross about her relationship with him especially when she was in a parent type role in the beginning. Having said that I feel I am ruining Mr. Travis’s book review by mentioning something that is said and done and when it comes down to it is just my opinion. I love Randy Travis and after learning how he grew up with his alcoholic father I felt so bad for him and then to see the role alcohol played in his adult life made me even sadder for the singer. I do want to say however I also thought he was found naked due to being drunk but through this book I have learned it was due to him being on Ambien and he doesn’t remember anything from that night including threatening to fill the police with lead. I am not a big autobiography/biography reader but was absolutely looking forward to this book about Randy Travis and with the exception of the mass of the amount of tour dates and unnecessary details it really turned out to be an entertaining read and I’m glad I got it as an early reader. #NetGalley, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview, #DianeDeichmann,#randyTravisStormsOfLife,

As a long time Randy Travis fan I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A lot of entertainment biographies either focus too technically on the music or ignore the music for the gossipy personal life of the subject. In "Randy Travis," Diane Diekman achieves the perfect balance. Based on well researched information and first person interviews she gives us a thorough picture of Randy Travis, his life and his music as well as a peek behind the scenes of the music business. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and University of Illinois Press for an advanced reader copy.

I've been a Randy Travis fan for as long as I can remember. Diane Diekman does a great job of telling his story from his first gigs to his current status as a music icon. Along the way, she shares the story of Randy Travis, both the man and the artist. His story has had many high points with enough low points to lend credibility when he sings the troubled tunes of the storms he has faced. I'm impressed with Diekman's writing; she tells Travis' story as he lives it, with no apologies.