It was one of those days when Josh Turner was taking life on the chin.

Josh Turner

“Everything was blowing up in my face, and I just felt like it was me against the world. And I came home that evening and just started venting to my wife about the day that I had,” he recalled. “I told her I felt like a punching bag; I felt like life was beating me up.

“And when I said it, it just struck me as a song title, and I felt there would be a lot to write about with that title and that concept.”

“Punching Bag,” the country superstar’s fifth studio disc, was released June 12.

The first voice heard on the CD belongs to boxing announcer Michael Buffer, who introduces the six-foot-one-inch 175-pounder as “the tornado of testosterone, the bone-shaking baritone.”

While Turner has never laced up the gloves, he’s a fan of the sport.

“I’ve always admired [boxing] from a distance and been a fan of it, but it’s not something that I ever really wanted to do,” he said from Nashville during a phone interview.

Since stepping into the country music ring with “Long Black Train” in 2003, the knockout has landed a flurry of hits — “Your Man,” “Would You Go With Me,” “Firecracker,” “All Over Me,” “Me and God” and “Why Don’t We Just Dance.”

The singer-songwriter scores with big hooks and is known for his one-two combination — love songs and inspirational numbers.

“Punching Bag” follows that same successful strategy. Turner serves up sweet sentiments with “Left Hand Man,” “Whatcha Reckon,” “Find Me a Baby” and “Good Problem.”

“My granddaddy was definitely very romantic at heart, and he kind of bestowed a lot of that upon me,” Turner said. “Every Valentine’s Day, he would be bringing all the women in the family carnations and just always do stuff like that, and it just really made an impression on me on how to treat the women in your life.

“I guess you could say I am [a romantic], and I think that shows in a lot of my songs.”

His faith also naturally flows into his music.

“People think that I’m always trying to make sure that I have the gospel song on my records, and I’ve been trying to explain where I’m coming from on that because it’s not something that I really set out to do,” Turner said.

“I’m a Christian; I’m the opposite of being religious. So for me, my faith is a huge part of who I am, and anybody who knows me knows that. So I think that part of me comes out in my songs, and I feel like if I don’t put those kinds of songs on my records, then I’m doing my fans a disservice and I’m doing myself a disservice because they’re not getting all of me, and I want my fans to get all of me as an artist.

“And this particular record, there’s not a gospel slot on this record. We have ‘For the Love of God,’ we have ‘I Was There’ and even with a different kind of slant we have ‘Pallbearer,’ so there’s three different kinds of songs on there that are very spiritual in nature.”

Turner will bring that booming voice to Centennial Terrace in Sylvania for an 8 p.m. show June 29. Tickets are $27.50 and $41.50. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. Katie Armiger will open.

In his corner will be his wife, Jennifer, who plays keyboards in his band, and their sons: Hampton, Colby and Crawford.

“There’s definitely musical tendencies with all three of them,” Turner said. “They love to dance when the songs come on; the two oldest ones try to sing along. It’s precious to see children that young get into music like that.

“Who knows what they’re going to end up doing one day, but ‘Find Me a Baby’ on this new record features them kind of singing along.”

Tags: Centennial Terrace, Josh Turner

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 at 11:54 am and is filed under In Concert, Star.
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After being voted No. 1 hottest bachelorette last year by Country Weekly readers, Katie Armiger has been fielding lots of questions from fans. The 20-year-old answers most of those with her new single, “Better in a Black Dress.”

“As you release songs, as you travel, people ask, ‘Do you have a boyfriend?’ ‘When do you think you’ll settle down?’ ‘When do you think you’ll have kids?’ And I wrote that song because, oh my gosh, I’m not anywhere close to being ready to settle down or get married. I don’t need a wedding dress — it’s better in a black dress,” Armiger said.

Katie Armiger by Stephen Shepherd

Known as the “good girl of country music,” Armiger is turning heads thanks to her powerful voice and third disc, “Confessions of a Nice Girl,” which came out in 2010. She wrote or co-wrote nine of the 13 tracks. Hits from that CD include the fun “Kiss Me Now,” the quintessential kiss-off “Best Song Ever” and the touching “Leaving Home.”

“I wrote [‘Leaving Home’] with Sarah Buxton and Blair Daly, and at the time I was just moving from Houston to Nashville, and I was excited but also sad, and I went into that session and I tried to make sense about it.”

What did she do after the big move to Music City, USA?

“Oh, I bundled up in my house because it was winter with snow, a really cold winter and a ton of snow,” she said during a call from a New Orleans restaurant. “I didn’t really leave my house for a bit; I just stayed there because I’m a girl from Texas.”

Growing up in Sugar Land, Texas, Armiger said she listened to Patsy Cline, Martina McBride and Linda Ronstadt.

“I started singing when I was 9 years old, and I would travel around Texas with my mom, and she would naturally bring me in her minivan, and I would just sing at little festivals and fairs,” Armiger said.

She released her self-titled debut at age 15 in 2007 and the follow-up “Believe” in 2008. Last year she performed at the Grand Ole Opry.

Armiger will open for Josh Turner at 8 p.m. June 29 at Centennial Terrace in Sylvania. Tickets are $35 and $55 on ticketmaster.com.

“When you’re singing and you see somebody singing along or coming up to the front of the stage and dancing and getting into it, that’s the most fun part — just having fun,” she said.

Tags: Centennial Terrace, Grand Ole Opry, Josh Turner, Katie Armiger

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 19th, 2012 at 11:06 am and is filed under In Concert, Star.
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