Josh Turner stopped by The Bobby Bones Show to talk about releasing his tenth album, how Rascal Flatts almost ended up with one of his songs and more!
This Country Music Thing , Turner’s tenth studio album, is out today (August 16.) It’s exactly what fans can expect from him and is full of true, traditional sounding country songs. The album is named after a song he wrote by himself for the project. He never thought it would end up on the record but when he sent a bunch of demos to his producer, it was the first song he picked. It was so outside of what Turner usually sings about but that’s why the producer loved it. Turner does not remember when he wrote the song but described it as a snapshot of his musical life and dreaming about getting here and then living his dream and his accomplishments and being able to call his heroes friends. The outro happened by accident while he was recording the song in the studio, and it was a tip of the cap to all the country greats. His brother pitched him the song “Down In Georgia, ” which is the first time he’s chosen his brothers recommendation. Turner does not know the writers but knows they wrote the song for him. He picked the song because he lives in Georgia and his wife is from there, so it felt like a song that really represented who he is.
Turner is known for his deep and rich vocals and has done a few voice auditions but never gotten any. He read for one 10 years ago that is still on the air, and it hurts every time he sees it. Voice acting is something he’d love to get into if given the right opportunity. Turner is currently on his Greatest Hits Tour which feels good to say for him. His setlist focuses on the hits that have gotten him here and is a celebration to fans. Now that his new album is out, he’ll start touring some of his new songs, but always makes sure to include the fan favorites.
While he had some time off, he went to The Grand Canyon and recalled how incredible it was. He also went to Canyonlands in Utah and shared how seeing places like that helps him get out of his head and inspires him to write. Songwriting is something he’s never fully tried to figure out because he thinks you can’t and it’s just something that happens and you have to keep doing to get better at. He does keep song ideas and melodies in his notes app. It’s rare for him to start with the melody when creating a song and is more of a concept songwriter. The only song he wrote where he started with the melody was “Haywire.”
Turner’s favorite sports teams are the Atlanta Braves and Clemson Tigers Football. He admitted it’s tough being a fan right now because the program is in a weird spot. He doesn’t fault the coach for not using the transfer portal because he wants players who want to be there to play, not just for exposure and money. He can now call someone at Clemson and get tickets to a game whenever he wants, but it wasn’t always that way. For a long time, he bought nosebleed seats, and now loves having the experience of calling to get tickets.
Randy Travis is the artist that inspired him to move to Nashville and chase his music dreams. He remembers seeing him perform at a County Fair and it being like nothing he had ever seen before. He had already had the music bug before that, but once he saw that performance, it cemented it for him. A similar thing happened when Drew Baldridge saw Turner in concert. It inspired him so much that he moved to Nashville to chase his music dreams because of Turner. When Baldridge made his Grand Ole Opry debut, he cried when Turner surprised him there, which was an honor for him and shared it felt good that someone was paying attention.
Travis is a father to four boys and shared the key to raising them is patience and discipline. His oldest son has the music bug, but he does not want to hold his hand through the process because he feels like he’d be doing him a disservice if he did. He is going to guide him and help him not make mistakes that he made early on in his career, but he wants him to learn it on his own, figure out exactly where he wants to go and show that he’s willing to work for it.
When Turner listens back to his earlier recordings, he can hear the youthfulness and inexperience in his voice. He shared that earlier in his career, he had a vocal injury and was taught that a man’s voice does not fully mature until 35. He also learned that after that age, your voice continues to develop and add texture, so when he hears those earlier songs, sometimes he wonders what they would sound like if he recorded them now. He has appreciation for his early recordings and feels like there from another lifetime.
Turner recalled the story of one of his biggest songs, “Why Don’t We Just Dance” When he first got pitched it, he put it on hold. Jay DeMarcus from Rascal Flatts reached out to him and said they’d love to record that song but knew he had it on hold, so he asked if he’d be willing to record it to see if he wanted to keep the song. So, he did, realized he loved it, and released the song and it later became a four-week number one and the most played country song of 2010. When he hears his song “Would You Go With Me” it makes him think of the pitch meeting at his record label. He was looking for songs for his second album and was still evergreen to the industry. When he heard the song, it was four verses with a long instrumental break and no clear chorus. He thought it sounded cool but was missing something, so they told the writers to create a chorus and then they’d record it. It didn’t take long for the writers to come back with the song.
Turner’s new album, This Country Music Thing , is out now!
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