For Josh Turner, new Opry member, everything is fine

The young country singer was a nominee as 2007 Male Vocalist.

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

Considering 2008 is not even 2 months old, it’s been quite a year already for country singer Josh Turner.

Not only did he tour with George Strait on the West Coast in January, but this Nashville-based singer-songwriter is about to join country-superstar-in-waiting Carrie Underwood for a Midwest swing. This includes a Friday show at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh.

“We’re looking forward to it,” said Turner, calling from Music City. “The word that I got was that I was her first choice. I was honored by that and just excited to be able to go out and be on a tour like this, because she and I are different artists. We play different music, and I think the combination of the two will bring some really great crowds every night.”

When pressed to elaborate on the differences between Underwood’s music and his own, Turner said, “Obviously I’m a little bit more traditional and my sound kind of harkens back to the early days of country music, but at the same time it has a fresh sound because I’m always trying to create something new and something fresh that the younger generation will grab onto.

“And Carrie’s a product of ‘American Idol.’ She’s made a big splash with that and gained a lot of fans. On the other hand, I moved to Nashville from South Carolina looking for a record deal and just started out the conventional way going out and visiting radio, making a record and just hoping my first single would be a hit.”

Turner’s first big hit came in 2003 with “Long Black Train.” Up next was 2006’s “Your Man,” which went double platinum and scored a series of No. 1 songs (the title track and “Would You Go With Me”). Now the 30-year-old singer is back with his third studio effort, “Everything is Fine,” which was released last November and is already gold.

“I was really excited when we started looking for songs, and I started writing and gathering material for this record, because a lot of artists don’t get to the third album,” said Turner, who was recently inducted into the Grand Ole Opry as its youngest current member and was a 2007 CMA Male Vocalist Nominee.

“And so just that in itself was exciting to me. I felt blessed and felt like I was in a great place to be able to show what Josh Turner is all about.”

Among his favorite tracks on “Everything is Fine” is the autobiographical “South Carolina Low Country,” which in his mind describes not only his style of music but his country roots, the Trisha Yearwood duet and his latest single “Another Try” and a cover of George Jones’ “One Woman Man.”

The latter track was something he had been performing on prior tours. Turner noticed the crowd really reacted well to the song, so he decided to cut his own version.

Luckily for Turner, “Everything is Fine” came out of the box hot, with its lead single “Firecracker” reaching No. 2 on the country music charts. 

“‘Firecracker’ showcases my lower range vocally,” Turner said. “It has those Southern kind of ways of saying things and those metaphors, and it’s a positive song, up-tempo and catchy.”

As far as his aforementioned intention to attract a younger audience, it appears “Firecracker” is serving this purpose.

“My son, he just turned 16 months old, and he begs for that song,” Turner said. “So even the young ones like it.”