Josh Turner on Why Writing With Chris Stapleton Is Very Challenging

Josh Turner recently released his first ever Christmas project, so he virtually stopped by The Bobby Bones Show to talk all about it, plus a recent milestone for his hit song "Your Man," and some stories of artists he's worked with recently.

King Size Manger is Turner's first ever Christmas album. He started talking about making this album back in January, and he's been writing the original songs for it for over a year now. He told Bobby Bones that he has been focused on trying to establish himself as an artist with lots of success before doing a Christmas record. However, it was always on his list to do it. When he and his team saw how successful his first gospel album was in 2018 and the success of his Country State of Mind album with covers of classic country songs, the natural next step was a Christmas project.

One of the songs on Turner's Christmas album "Mele Kalikimaka My 'Ohana" features Jake Shimabukuro and Ho'okena. Shimabukuro is famously known for his ukulele skills and Tuner has always admired his talent. Turner had already recorded the song, but his producer was good friends with Shimabukuro's manager. So they got connected and made it happen to have Simabukuro play ukulele on the classic Christmas song. Another song on the album "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" features his family. Tuner noted that it's always been a favorite Christmas song of his and he already had an arrangement of this song. So with it being his favorite song, he wanted to have his favorite people on it with him.

Besides his Christmas project, Turner recently celebrated 15 years since the release of "Your Man." He recalled what happened back in 2006 when it came out. He had just finished a shoot of his song "Long Black Train," and he remembered people were trying to pigeon hole him with that song and its sound. So he wanted to make sure to do something very different for his next project and that's when he came across "Your Man." He thought it was totally different and perfect. The whole record went on to sell over 2 million units, but that's not where it ended. After Scotty McCreery sang it on American Idol, and then Turner did the CMT Crossroads with Randy Travis where they sang it, the song continued to see massive success. Since then, Turner shared that he and McCreery have performed it together, however he and the original writer Chris Stapleton haven't. Though Turner and Stapleton have written together, but it's very challenging because they often can't find a middle ground for a key to sing.

Turner has been enjoying some time with his family. The whole crew is on the road with him for his Christmas tour. He has four sons, and admitted there is a lot of energy and testosterone in his household. He added that if they can get through the holidays without anything breaking, then it's a good holiday for them. He also shared that none of them have Turner's iconic deep voice yet, however he said that personally he went through two different puberties with his voice. So it's still possible with any of them to end up with a deep voice like their father.


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