(CSC) 1. Congratulations on the release of your tenth studio album, “This Country Music Thing,” available August 16th on MCA Nashville! Reflecting on the creative process, how does this record define you at this current chapter of your career?
(Josh Turner)
Well, first of all, I haven't made a mainstream country record in several years, so it's good to be back in the studio to do a record like that. And, you know, I've watched our business change since I did a record like this, so it was interesting choosing songs and trying to navigate the current landscape.
And so, I feel like I did that in a pretty decent way. I had a lot of things going on in my personal life when I was making this record. So, it was hard for me to really kind of devote a lot of time and attention to a lot of the nitty gritty details, but I did the best that I could. And I really leaned on my producer on this record. And I feel like he and I both really delivered a record that I think the fans can enjoy and be proud of and look forward to. And hopefully they love it as much as I do when they hear it.
(CSC) 2. Having such a great working relationship with your longtime producer Kenny Greenberg, what do you admire about him and what have you learned from him as an artist?
(Josh Turner)
I think the biggest thing is that he's still a fan of music, and that's a big thing with me. You know, if I ever sense that you're getting jaded or tired or bitter and not continuing to learn, not continuing to enjoy what you do and love what you do, that can be a problem.
And so, he's always just had an excitement about music. He lives it and breathes it. He plays the music in a lot of different arenas, literally and figuratively. But he's always looking to try to make a song better. And so, he's always looking at songs in a different way than I am, and so I think he and I make a really good team. I've been able to make songs that he's crazy about better, and vice versa. So, it's been a good partnership and I look forward to continuing to make records with him.
(CSC) 3. What would be some of your most favorite highlights from the recording of this record in the studio with Kenny and the other musicians who were a part of it?
(Josh Turner)
We had a lot of great musicians play on this record. Some that I've played with for years and then there's others that have been fairly new to me. So, all of them played together really well. They were just as excited about the music as Kenny and I were, so that's always a good sign. I just really enjoyed the creative process like I usually do when I'm making a record.
When we finally nailed the songs down, especially getting the list of songs together was the hardest part. But once we got that, going in the studio, tracking all of this stuff, singing the vocals on it, was just a blast. We had a great time putting all this stuff together, and just like I say, there was a lot of great moments.
One in particular that kind of stands out is a song that I wrote called “Unsung Hero.” And it's basically a tribute to my granddaddy who was a World War II veteran. And just being able to kind of woodshed with Kenny and Brian Sutton on the arrangement of that, and then going in and singing that and just seeing how that turned out was pretty epic.
(CSC) 4. You have contributed your talents as a songwriter to three of the eleven tracks on the record (“This Country Music Thing, “Whirlwind,” and “Unsung Hero.”) What do you enjoy most about songwriting and what’s most challenging?
(Josh Turner)
Songwriting's never really come easy for me. There have been some songs that have just kind of spilled out. Those songs are few and far between, but songwriting has always just intrigued me because it's so challenging and because it's not easy. I like the challenge of it. When I have the time to sit down and do that but yeah, the more you do it, the more grueling it can be so I just kind of have to do it in phases.
I don't write year-round. Sometimes I wish I did, but I don't really have the time to, but when I have the time to sit down and spend time writing songs, it's a whole lot of fun because a lot of times I'm writing by myself, and then other times I'm writing with my songwriting buddies that I've known for years and that are friends of mine, and so that's always fun to catch up with them.
(CSC) 5. One song in particular, “Down In Georgia” is somewhat biographical to you! Tell us about that special song and the story behind meeting your lovely wife, Jennifer!
(Josh Turner)
Yeah, I've been trying to run down the story on this song because the three guys that I don't even know wrote this song and I kind of heard through the grapevine just recently that they specifically wrote it for me which was the first that I'd heard of that.
So, I'm trying to figure out (Laughs) if that's actually true or not. When I first heard it, I'm like man somebody's been reading my mail, because when I first heard it, we were actually in the process of moving to Georgia, and my wife is from Georgia, and so it was just kind of like, whoa, this is like interesting timing here.
So, obviously it was an easy choice for the record, and musically it's very different from anything that I've ever done. A lot of people really liked that song early on, so it was kind of an easy choice. I met my wife when we were in school together at Belmont University in Nashville and we've been married now 21 years.
(CSC) Do you enjoy Georgia? Nashville really has changed a lot in the past 10 years!
(Josh Turner)
It has changed a lot. You know, I was in Nashville for 25 years and I've watched it change over the years and it's grown a lot. It's gotten a lot busier and I do feel like the culture has changed a lot from when I first moved there. Nashville's been really good to me. Tennessee's been really good to me. That's where I spent most of my married life, we had four boys, they were all born in Nashville and they were all raised there in Tennessee. So, like I say, we made a lot of great memories there. But I think moving to Georgia has been good for all of us. It's been a good change of scenery and good to kind of get out of the Nashville rat race (Laughs).
Stay Tuned for Part II of the interview with Josh Turner in September 2024!
Learn more about Josh Turner, catch the latest tour dates, buy his new record "This Country Music Thing" and enjoy tons of great merchandise here; www.JoshTurner.com
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