See Jon Pardi’s Vibrant Cover of Randy Travis’ ‘Forever’

The rollout for the 50th annual CMA Awards is off to a huge start with the collaborative recording “Forever Country,” which recently leapt to Number One on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart. Next up is the Forever Country Covers series, led off by Jon Pardi’s rendition of the 1987 Randy Travis hit “Forever and Ever, Amen.”

Though he’s fond of cranking up the volume for his high-energy sets, Pardi goes the quiet route for his performance of “Forever and Ever, Amen.” Pardi’s voice is a touch higher than Travis’ signature baritone, but he keeps the song in the same key, assisted only by a second acoustic guitar and some nifty dobro fills. Pardi recently scored his first Number One with the hit “Head Over Boots” off his album California Sunrise and has maintained the footwear theme with his new single “Dirt on My Boots.”

Written by ace tunesmiths Don Schlitz and Paul Overstreet, “Forever and Ever, Amen” was a 1987 CMA Award winner for Song and Single of the Year after Travis recorded it. Travis, who has spent recent years recovering from a stroke, was recently named a 2016 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, along with Charlie Daniels and Fred Foster.