Exclusive: Josh Turner Talks New Album & His Lasting Country Music Legacy

There was something in the country music water during the 2000s. A type of marriage between the traditions of the genre's classic heyday and the sleek shine of its modern evolution that would eventually open the gates to the "bro-country" era.

While there were many artists who hit their stride in this lauded era of the format, none did so with as much gusto and grace as Josh Turner.

After the release of his debut album, 2003's Long Black Train – its title track becoming one of the most recognizable song's in his discography – the South Carolinian had managed to turn heads amongst country fans, largely due to his distinctive baritone voice and sincere storytelling nous.

Yet, with his 2006 follow-up, Your Man, everyone's attentions were firmly fixed on the rising star. Including standout tunes like 'Would You Go With Me' and 'Me And God,' the crown jewel of the project was the multi-Platinum-certified title track, which eventually become Turner's first No. 1 single and turned him into a household name almost overnight.

"That song has experienced so many different lives," Turner shares with Holler, looking back at the near two decades since Your Man's release. "The song was really striking a chord with people. Then Randy Travis and I did the CMT Crossroads special where we sang the song together, and that show started being rerun one after the other. The record ended up going 2x Platinum and then Scotty McCreery came out and sang it on American Idol, so all of a sudden, there was another spike in interest.

"The whole record experience was just incredible and then, not long ago, I got a call from my manager saying the record had been certified 3x Platinum and that 'Your Man' was certified 4x Platinum." He adds with a smile: "It just keeps going. It's the little song that could."

Since 'Your Man' entered the ether, Turner has enjoyed a steady stream of success, becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry, notching five No. 1s at country radio and nabbing several major award nominations, including two Grammys, five CMAs and two ACMs, among others.

Now, just over twenty years since dipping his toes into the country music waters, Turner has readied his tenth studio album, This Country Music Thing, released on August 16. The 11-song project, which marks his first original country record since 2017, finds Turner in his signature sweet spot, boasting songs that nod back to his 2000s country roots but have an ultimately timeless feel.

"I wasn't trying to make this album fit into any certain era or time period," Turner admits. "Songs have a way of dictating what a record is going to be. You can set out with one idea for where a record's supposed to go, but the songs will take you in a whole different direction. You just never know."

Explaining his approach to the record, he says: "I'm always open to trying something new. 'Two Stepping on the Moon' is a perfect example of that. At first listen, I thought, 'Well, it's kind of cool, but I don't know if it works for me. I don't know if it'll fit on this record.' But I just kept going back to it. There was something special about the song that I just couldn't give up on."

A masterful mix of nostalgic boot stompers, swaying love songs and a moving ode to his veteran grandfather, This Country Music Thing serves as a cross-section of who Josh Turner is: a man who cherishes his family, his country and, of course, country music.

"It sounds simple and cliche, but I just hope people love this record as much as I do. I hope they can hear the heart, hard work, effort and emotion that was put into making it," Turner offers. "It's not something that I just shoot from the hip on, it's something that I take seriously and work hard at. I hope they appreciate it as much as I do."

Additionally, Turner discussed what makes a "Josh Turner Song," favorite moments from his Greatest Hits Tour and more.

The melody struck me right off the bat, because it was very different in how the melody flowed and laid in there. When I started playing it, the chord progression was very different and very interesting, which told me that there was a uniqueness about it. I love the lyric and it was in that 'Your Man' vein. I had a friend of mine tell me that it's the prequel to 'Your Man'.

Marv Green, Luke Laird and Brice Long wrote it and, I found out after the fact, that they'd actually written it specifically for me. I was very flattered and honored by that.

It's hard to put into words. It's obviously gotta showcase my voice well. I don't like a lot of these songs where the melody doesn't have a whole lot of range. I feel like it kind of limits me in regard to singing.

The demo for 'Two Stepping on the Moon' sounded like a lot of other songs that had been pitched to me that had that small range. I don't want to say it was monotone, but there just wasn't much to it and it was kind of flat. That song actually had a pretty legitimate melody, though, that I felt would really capture my voice in a great way.

The lyric was also really cool, which opened itself up to creative ideas like the video.

The outro actually happened after we recorded the song. It came from me goofing off in the control room after I had done my vocal.

It was this big long outro and my producer, Kenny Greenberg, was talking about how he was gonna have this person play here and this person play there. While we were listening to it, I just started singing all these little snippets of songs. He said, "Oh, man! That's kind of cool. Why don't you go in there and do that now?"

I came back in, laid it down and told him I wanted it to have an effect like it was coming out of an old radio. He managed to find the right effect and it turned out to be a really cool moment on the record.

When I think about where I'm from and all the people who told me I was never gonna make it or I was crazy to try and get a record deal, now I can look at everything that I've been able to do. I've been able to sing for presidents, become a member of the Grand Ole Opry, been to multiple countries, sang on TV and at sporting events and rubbed elbows with my heroes. Every time one of them passes away, it becomes more and more special to me.

I look back and I can't believe I was able to do this, that and the other. I kind of look at it collectively because it all happened and I was willing to take a chance.

I was having fun with my crowd in a suburb of Chicago. The address for the venue was Des Plaines, Illinois, and so I said to the crowd, "It's good to be here in Des Plaines, Illinois!"

I heard some people yelling out, "Chicago!" and some people yelling out other suburbs. I was just kind of egging the crowd on and we got to arguing back and forth about the town name when somebody said, "You're in Rosemont!" I said, "Yeah, we played in Rosemont last night. That was a terrible crowd!" We were actually closer to Rosemont than we were Des Plaines but it was hilarious. It was just one of those inside jokes with that particular crowd.

Those are the moments that I love because it kind of breaks up the monotony of the show, and you start having a connection with the audience. Those kinds of things happen a good bit when you have an audience that's listening and engaged.

We also had a fan in Oregon not too long ago that tried to sneak into the show, but he got stuck under a fence. We put that all over social media. He must've really wanted to see the show! All that to say, people shouldn't crawl under fences. They should buy a ticket, come through the proper entrance and they won't be disappointed.

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