INTERVIEW
Josh Turner Talks Music Business and Man Stuff
Produced by Cheryl Wilcox
Interview by Scott Ross
The 700 Club
CBN.com
–Recently, country music star Josh Turner put down his guitar for a moment, and picked up a pen. He authored the book ”Man Stuff: Thoughts on Faith, Family and Fatherhood."
I (Scott Ross) met with Josh at the historic Ryman Auditorium - the same stage where, a decade ago, his debut in country music caught fire. With its fan tours and country music memorabilia, the Ryman is –to a country singer – home.
Scott Ross: "I just finished going through your book, "Man Stuff." My wife saw the cover and said, 'Read it!'"
Josh Turner: “That's good. That's what we want.”
Scott Ross: “Where did the title come from?”
Josh Turner: “The title came from me and my second son, Colby. We were going to my cabin in South Carolina one week and my wife, Jennifer, looks at Colby and says, 'Colby, what are you and daddy going to do at the cabin?' and he looked at her and he said, 'We're going to do man stuff.' You know, they're life lessons of mine that I've learned something from and my hope is that people will read these things and learn something themselves or get some encouragement, get some direction, some guidance from this.”
Josh shares the stories behind those life lessons. One of them is about Moses.
Scott Ross: “Your Moses is different from the biblical Moses.”
Josh Turner: “Right. He's actually a dog. He was my dream dog. He was a full-blooded bloodhound and just the best pet I’ve ever had. I didn't know it at the time, but in hindsight, he prepared me to be a parent.”
Scott Ross: "Really? How?"
Josh Turner: “Well, he taught me how to be responsible for somebody that depended on me basically. And taught me patience, taught me understanding, and just taught me a lot about forgiveness. You know, did all kinds of stuff together, so I miss him.”
Scott Ross: “He died?”
Josh Turner: “Uh-huh.”
Scott Ross: “You didn't replace Moses with Abraham or anything?”
Josh Turner: “No. Can't – no, can't replace, can't replace Moses.”
Scott Ross: “There's a very revealing chapter here in your book, "Who I am."
Josh Turner: “Yeah.” (slight laugh)
Scott Ross: “All right. You have to think about – you have to pray about that one before you answer. Do you know who you are?”
Josh Turner: “I think it's a very strong, hard question to answer sometimes.”
Scott Ross: “Yeah. And you are more than a performer.”
Josh Turner: “Uh-huh.”
Scott Ross: “First of all you belong to the Lord as your book says,”
Josh Turner: “Yeah.”
Scott Ross: “And you say…and to Jennifer and to the boys.”
Josh Turner: “Yeah. I see myself as somebody who's always trying to improve; always trying to get better. Everybody should take the time to sit back and say, 'Who am I?' and what their purpose is in life and where they're headed.”
Even as a country music star, Josh makes his family top priority. In fact his wife, Jennifer, is a member of his band. And when they go on the road they take their three boys with them.
Josh Turner: “So we're together all the time. And so, you know, with that said, we actually have to make it a point to spend some time apart before we kill each other.” (laughs) So it's not the other way around. Which is the way we prefer it.”
Scott Ross: "One of them for instance, 'humor' is that important to you?"
Josh Turner: “Absolutely. Absolutely.”
Scott Ross: “Are you a funny guy?”
Josh Turner: “Yeah, (laughs) in certain situations.”
Scott Ross: “Yeah?”
Josh Turner: “You know, and I got that sense of humor from my daddy's side of the family and they've always just wanted to laugh and tried to laugh and tried to make people laugh and tried to know when to take life seriously and they know that life is serious and I think that's why their sense of humor was so important because it got them through tough situations. But they've used humor to uplift themselves and each other and everybody around them. And so I've definitely acquired that and gotten honestly.”
Josh also wants men to know the most important part of life, is faith in Jesus Christ.
Scott Ross: “Prayer… that’s another chapter in the book and I liked the way you describe prayer in your life and how you practice it.”
Josh Turner: “Basically prayer, to me, is having a conversation with the Lord. You know, having a conversation with Jesus. And for me, yeah, I mean, before I’m going out on stage I’m praying. You know, when I’m at home by myself, having alone time, I’m praying. I’m either thanking Him, I’m either asking Him for something, I’m either just trying to draw close to Him. It's a great thing, if not 'the' greatest thing that we have as Christians. We can always come to him, no matter what happens.”
With the release of “Man Stuff,” Josh plans to do even more writing – songs that is. He’s put the pen away --for now --and picked up his guitar.
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