It’s been nearly 17 years since Josh Turner made his Grand Ole Opry debut, earning the young artist a lengthy standing ovation. Since that auspicious beginning, Turner has continued to add to Country music’s proud legacy. Turner has scored multiple GRAMMY, CMA and ACM Awards nominations and received six Inspirational Country Music Awards. As one of the youngest members inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, Turner has sold more than 8 million units, topped more than 1.5 billion in global streaming and populated radio with such memorable hits as “Hometown Girl,” “Would You Go With Me,” “Your Man,” “Time Is Love,” “Why Don’t We Just Dance” and “Long Black Train,” the song that sent the audience into a frenzy the night of that first Opry performance. With his newest project, I Serve A Savior, Turner adds an exciting new dimension to his already acclaimed career. Always outspoken about his faith and the role God has played in his life, it’s never been a secret that Turner is a believer, so a Gospel album seemed like a natural move to make. “My fans have been asking for something like this for years,” Turner says of his first Gospel collection. “I was able to go in to the studio on this one and record some things I’d been wanting to record for a long, long time.” Additionally, Turner performed the entire 12-track album live at Gaither Studios plus an interview hosted by Gospel legend Bill Gaither for a DVD special. “It was such an honor and a pleasure to work alongside Bill on this project,” shares Turner. “Josh Turner is a gifted artist. We talked about his faith, his music, his wife and children, and about his Gospel heritage he holds so dear,” expresses Gaither. “It is a joy to see a young man with so much talent using his gifts with purpose and excellence.” I Serve A Savior is a thoughtful collection that finds Turner’s rich, distinctive baritone paired with timeless classics including “Amazing Grace,” “How Great Thou Art” and “Great Is Your Faithfulness,” as well as introducing originals including “The River (of Happiness)” and the title track. “I wrote ‘I Serve A Savior’ with my buddy Mark Narmore. I had this title in mind and when he came over to write, he loved it,” Turner says of the song that includes him reciting Scripture from the book of John. “We tried to write it like a modern-day hymn, but when we got to the back half of that second verse, I just felt like we needed to give it some stability and credibility as far as what the song was all about so, we included the Scripture.” In addition to the new songs, Turner brings light to songs from throughout his life that have held particularly special meaning. Determined to put his own unique stamp on these well-loved songs of faith, Turner enlisted GRAMMY Award-winning producer Kenny Greenberg [The Mavericks, Joan Baez, Ashley Cleveland] to help him craft an album that would pay homage to the songs that inspired him as a child growing up in South Carolina. Greenberg shares, “Josh has a deep connection to all of these songs and he had a real clear vision of what he wanted to do with the songs and the arrangements of the songs. What I really did on this record was facilitate his vision.” Turner recruited Gospel’s Sonya Isaacs [The Isaacs], adding her impassioned vocals to an exceptional version of “I Saw The Light.” Traditionally a more jubilant song, Turner heard the lyrics differently. “You can’t see the light until you go through some darkness. You don’t recognize light until you recognize darkness, so I felt like part of that song had kind of been left out and I wanted to combine the two.” Turner also welcomed bluegrass legend Bobby Osborne of the Osborne Brothers to lend harmony on “I Pray My Way Out of Trouble.” While written by Country music legends Loretta Lynn and Teddy Wilburn, Turner discovered “I Pray My Way Out of Trouble” through his grandmother’s record collection which included the Osborne Brothers Our Favorite Hymns featuring the comforting tune. “Not only did I put it on the record, but I’m thrilled to have Bobby sing on it. He’s not only a musical hero of mine, but he’s an American hero,” Turner says of the 86-year-old Korean War veteran and Purple Heart recipient. Another song that holds a special place in Turner’s heart is “The River (of Happiness),” penned by his wife, Jennifer, and their oldest son, Hampton. “Jennifer and all the boys sang on the record,” Turner says of his wife and their four sons Hampton, 12; Colby, 9; Marion, 7; and Hawke, 4. “Hampton even played a little bit of mandolin on it. Jennifer and I thought, ‘This would be a really neat moment on the record to have them sing on this,’ and so that’s what we did. It was a very straightforward melody and just a good lyric. It speaks to when the Lord creates the new earth and paints a picture that revolves around the river of life and everything being made new. It’s an uplifting song and having Jennifer and boys singing on it drives that home.” Turner grew up singing in church and was baptized when he was 12. By the time he was a freshman in high school, he had formed his own Gospel quartet called The Thankful Hearts. “We performed at a lot of churches in our area and had a lot of fun doing it,” he recalls. “Through the group, I came to know my favorite hymn, ‘Without Him.’ I fell in love with that song and have since been able to meet the songwriter, Mylon LeFevre (of the well-known Gospel group The Singing LeFevres) and learn the incredible story behind the song and how it made its way onto Elvis Presley’s How Great Thou Art record. Elvis took that song to the masses and there have been about 400 artists who have recorded that song since. Now, I’m one of them.” Josh Turner’s Gospel collection also includes new live versions of his 2006 hit “Me and God” and his platinum-selling breakthrough 2003 hit “Long Black Train”, as well as, a soulful version of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and a beautifully simple “Doxology,” which Turner included because it reminded him of his roots in the Union Baptist Church. “That was something that we always sang at our church growing up in South Carolina,” he notes. “I just felt like it would add some color to the record and reflect my roots.” I Serve A Savior is a landmark album from one of the pillars of the Country music community, but more than that, it reflects the heart of the artist and is a personal manifesto. “My faith is the most important thing to me. God has commissioned us to go out and tell people about Him and that’s what I’m doing,” he says. “My life doesn’t revolve around my career or the things I may achieve. Obviously, all that is a blessing, but my records aren’t going to get me into heaven. I want people to hear the sentiment and heart behind this record. I want them to feel the same inspiration that I felt. I want them to feel that and hopefully they’ll make these songs a part of their life.”
