Josh Turner - Long Black Train

Josh Turner seems to belong to a generation of country singers debuting in the late-1990s/early 2000s who were influenced by the middlebrow New Traditionalism of artists like Randy Travis and George Strait in the '80s.

Accordingly, Turner's first offering, Long Black Train, strikes an uneasy bargain with Nashville commerciality, while making strides for the sound of 'hard' country in the mainstream arena.

It's no accident that some of the most successful songs here are the ones Turner wrote on his own, particularly the Johnny Cash-like title track where he gets to show off his resonant baritone.

Even the most sentimental ballads never descend into treacly overproduction though, and Turner's honest, straightforward approach carries him through his debut with graceful aplomb.

• Long Black Train
• In My Dreams
• What It Ain't
• I Had One One Time
• Jacksonville
• Backwoods Boy
• Unburn All Our Bridges
• You Don't Mess Around With Jim
• She'll Go On You
• Good Woman Bad
• The Difference Between A Woman And A Man