Country sensation Turner rides into town

Double-platinum selling country singer/songwriter Josh Turner will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday Sept. 29 at Treasure Island’s Event Center.

Turner burst onto the scene in 2003 with the powerful hit single “Long Black Train.” Featuring his deep, rich baritone at the forefront, the song peaked at No. 13 on the country charts and paved the way for his first album.

Today, he has sold more than 5 million albums with four No. 1 singles: “Your Man,” “Would You Go with Me,” “Why Don’t We Just Dance” and “All Over Me.”

“Time is Love,” the debut single from what will be his fifth album — “Punching Bag” — is already making air waves. The record is a collection of bluegrass-influenced barn-burners, lonesome laments and the slow steady love ballads Turner’s trademark vocals excel the most.

“When the idea for ‘Punching Bag’ came along, it really hit me,” Josh says, pun intended. “It became the central idea for this record.”

Ironically, the up-and-at-’em tune was inspired by a particularly down day for the singer.

“I’ve learned that songs come to you in various ways, from all different angles,” he said. “Nothing was going my way that day, and I felt like I was up against the world. When I got home, my wife, Jennifer, and I were talking about things that happened and I said, ‘You know, I just feel like a punching bag, like life is beating me up.’”

Soon Turner was off and writing, brainstorming lyrics with one of his most trusted creative partners, Pat McLaughlin.

“I wanted to express the idea that life is tough,” Turner said. “You get a lot punches thrown at you and a lot of times you’re not in control. But you have to take those punches and keep moving forward.”

This is exactly the position Turner found himself in while making the album.

“I had just gone through a lot of craziness in my life,” said the father of three young boys: Hampton, Colby and Marion. “We had just had our third child and I had spent two years building a writer’s cottage, a log cabin for me to write in. It was a very stressful time getting all that done.”

The Grammy, CMA and ACM Award nominee has developed a Mark Twain-like knack for turning common phrases on their heads, his publicist said.

“I’m very observant of what’s going on around me,” Turner said. “I like to take phrases that people use in everyday life and use them to my advantage. You hear people say, ‘They gave me the cold shoulder,’ but they don’t go beyond that. If it’s something that has been said before, I want to say it in a different way.”

Call the Treasure Island Box Office at 1-877-849-1640 for tickets or look online at www.treasureislandcasino.com for more information.

Who: Josh Turner

When: 8 p.m. Saturday Sept. 29

Where: Treasure Island Resort & Casino Event Center

Cost: $40, $50

More info: 877-849-1640 or www.ticasino.com

Tags: arts and entertainment, lifestyle, arts, entertainment