Josh Turner photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Josh Turner’s new album Haywire got off to a great start, selling 85,000 copies in its first week to land at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and at No. 5 on the all-genre Billboard 200. And that news comes as the CD’s first single, “Why Don’t We Just Dance,” holds steady at No. 1 on the Top Country Songs list.

Josh may be hot in the present moment, but part of his success has comes by learning from the past. Randy Travis was a symbolic mentor for him during his formative years, and he’s worked with such previous hitmakers as Trisha Yearwood, Ralph Stanley and Diamond Rio to build his career since he started recording.

But Josh was getting an education about artistry and the music business long before he made his way from South Carolina to Nashville. The stories of established artists can be found in many settings, and Josh looked to those people’s histories to pick up creative nuances or even motivation.

“I would listen to [the syndicated radio show] American Country Countdown every Sunday after church,” he told Country Weekly for a cover story. “I won’t ever forget that story Tracy Lawrence told about leavin’ Arkansas in his Toyota four-wheel-drive truck that broke down on the way to Nashville. At that time, I was drivin’ a four-wheel-drive Toyota truck. So that made me realize these are real people that I’m hearin’ on the radio. And I’m just like them. That was the kind of stuff that inspired me to realize that it was possible.”

With his current chart position, Josh is indeed just like those other acts and wanting to make his time in the spotlight as meaningful as possible. As he looks into his future, he still gravitates to the education he’s gotten from his predecessors, including Hank Williams. During his years at Belmont University in Nashville, Josh took a trip to Montgomery, Ala., to see Hank’s burial site in person, and it’s still an inspiration to him.

“You talk about a feelin’,” Josh said. “You stand there in the Oakwood Cemetery and look at the grave of one of the greatest country artists and songwriters that ever lived. Then all the sudden, you hear a train off in the distance. It’s an awesome feelin’. And I got to thinkin’, I want to be remembered. I want somebody generations from now to be makin’ an effort to come see my grave or see my statue. I want to make an impact.”

Josh is doing that both as an artist and as a father. And he’s trying to help out in the community when he can. Among his upcoming contributions is an entry in the ninth annual Birdhouse Thing, a charity auction of birdhouses decorated and signed by recording artists to raise money for Nashville’s W.O. Smith Music School. Josh’s entry will be perched at the March 11 event alongside offerings from Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts and LeAnn Rimes, among others.

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