Josh Turner- This Country Music Thing
Label: MCA
Producer: Kenny Greenberg
When Josh Turner and his booming, traditional baritone emerged on the mainstream country scene in the early 2000s, it served as one of those rare and revelatory introductions to a generational voice, one on the same level as giants like Johnny Cash or Randy Travis or Keith Whitley before him. The musical path presented by his first four or five records were steeped in the same spirit of those artists as well, as the vocalist managed to strike a unique balance in the Nashville ecosystem, between dark, modern spirituals like “Long Black Train” and irresistible romps like “Your Man”, “Would You Go With Me”, and “Why Don’t We Just Dance”, which were both radio-friendly and steeped in the honky-tonk blood. Label and radio pressures caused the quality of his work to dip however around the advent of bro-country, as his output started to pander to the trends of the marketplace, rather than bucking them in the name of neo-traditional integrity. It maintained his radio profile for a time, but before long his presence on both the airwaves and within the creative compass of the genre had dissipated. In the years since, Turner has put his remarkable voice to fabulous use on a trio of vanity projects covering gospel tunes, traditional country classics, and Christmas music. With This Country Music Thing however, he finally graces listeners with his first collection of originals in seven years, and it’s every bit the return-to-form that we’ve been clamoring. His inimitable pipes are as powerfully pure as they were two decades ago, and it’s a flat-out joy to hear him singing straight-country tunes of this caliber and variety once again. Play it back-to-back with 2017’s Deep South, and you can palpably hear the increased quality of ease and enjoyment Turner’s performances reclaim here in comparison to that going-through-the-motions record. He and producer Kenny Greenberg employ all of the clean and organic country instrumentation that his voice has always thrived against, clearly with zero regard for the current mainstream climate, though the burgeoning roots revival on Music Row would make this the perfect time for a Turner chart-resurgence. That doesn’t appear to be underway, but it matters not. Song-wise, his albums have always been prone to a bit of generic filler, and while Thing proves to be no different, there’s nary a performance here that isn’t pleasing at minimum. The title cut is a nostalgia-ride of country music hero-worship, while tracks like “Two-Steppin’ On the Moon” and especially “Heatin’ Things Up” are easily among the year’s most infectiously memorable performances in any genre. “Down in Georgia” meanwhile revisits the alluring honky-tonk-meets-Celtic flavor he experimented with back on 2007’s Everything Is Fine, while the sweet romance of “Pretty Please” asserts that the charming seduction of his voice is aging like a fine wine. Finally, when he closes the record with the showstopping soldier tribute, “Unsung Hero”, he provides the kind of classic, heartfelt moment that sets the country artform apart from its fellow genres, like deep cuts “The Longer the Waiting” and “Pallbearer” before it. Welcome back, Josh Turner- we’ve missed you.
Track Listing:
- “Down In Georgia” (Tyler Booth, Anthony Olympia, Brent Rupard)
- “If You Ain’t With Me” (Marv Green, Lance Miller, Jimmy Yeary)
- “I Just Wanna Kiss You” (Jeff Hyde, Jon Nite)
- “Heatin’ Things Up” (Green, Luke Laird, Brice Long)
- “This Country Music Thing” (Josh Turner)
- “My Side” (Barton Davies, William Reames, Jeremy Spillman, Ryan Tyndell)
- “Two Steppin’ On the Moon” (Matt Dragstrem, Chase McGill, John Pierce)
- “Somewhere With Her” (Rhett Akins, Will Bundy, Josh Miller)
- “Whirlwind” (Turner, Mark Narmore)
- “Pretty Please” (Jon Randall, Gordie Sampson, Wyatt McCubbin)
- “Unsung Hero” (Turner)
Enjoy our content? Follow us on Facebook and subscribe by following the links below!
The 706 
Leave a comment