Rhiannon Ally: What do you get when you combine Barry White, John Meyer and the gentlemen from the south? The answer is Josh Turner, an enormous talent who’s had three number one hits and earned high praise from his peers. Better recently talked with Turner on the road.
Host: Touring takes Josh Turner to a different city every night but these days his attention is turned to Nashville.
Josh Turner: When I saw the upper stage under water, it was right before I went to bed one night and I literally got weak on the knees.
Host: The Opry was all but destroyed last month and monumental flooding that’s devastated much of central Tennessee.
Josh Turner: We spend many nights there playing to the fans and to see it under water was a heart breaking.
Host: Turner is a familiar face on the famous stage having performed there well over 100 times. Beside from Carrie Underwood, he’s the Opry’s youngest in that inductee.
Josh Turner: It’s going to take a while for everybody to really rebound from this.
Host: Among the destruction, these cars which belong to Turner’s band and crew. Most of the guys had parked in the Opry lot because it’s where they boarded their tour buses.
Josh Turner: When we got home that Monday morning, after the flood and everything, they couldn’t even see their cars, they were submerged. I drove across the Cumberland River twice and that day and it was awful. They said it’s probably one of the worst disasters in middle Tennessee since civil war.
Host: Turner is someone who believes music can help in the healing process. That’s why even before the flooding; he recorded Why Don’t We Just Dance, his recent number one hit.
Josh Turner: It was one of those messages that I felt like would really hit home with a lot of people. Especially with what our country was going through last year with the economy collapsing the way it did.
Host: The song not only spent three weeks of the top of the charts, it helped earned Turner a spot on Allan Jackson’s tour. But the video bags one big question? Why doesn’t Turner do any boogying himself?
Josh Turner: I’m not a—dance man, so my dancing days are over. Simon has been my strength and so, I just let somebody else dance now.
Host: Indeed it’s Turners deep baritone that’s been his trademark. Ever since his breakthrough single Long Black Train. Turner also penned the tune which spent a whapping 40 weeks on the chart.
Josh Turner: I wrote that in a couple of days time and it did pour out of me but I had to go through a lot of pain to get to that moment of inspiration. There weren’t a lot of things that I was struggling with. I don’t have time in this interview for me to talk about all that.
Host: But Turner’s dark days are far behind him. His fourth album is selling strong and that sexy blond, who started one of his videos—that’s his wife Jenny who keeps him company on the road and plays in his bands.
Josh Turner: You know that’s something that just kind of happened naturally. This what works for us and now we have children. We have to adapt and adjust to that too. As long as those two things are not shaking then we’ll continue to do it.
Rhiannon Ally: As for the recent flooding, Turners says, he did have a few logs that buster his fence but he was able to clean it up on his own. So, we consider himself very lucky.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services