Josh Turner‘s star-studded Country State of Mind album is officially here! The 12-track project includes collaborations with Randy Travis, Runaway June, Maddie & Tae, Chris Janson, Allison Moorer, John Anderson and Kris Kristofferson, the latter who joins Josh on the classic “Why Me,” originally recorded by Kris 48 years ago.

“It’s probably one of my favorites as far as what we captured on this record,” Josh shared with Everything Nash and other outlets. “To hear him sing at 83 years old with the career he’s had, It was just incredible. He recorded it out in Hawaii where he lives. I guess it’s still just surreal to have somebody of that stature on my record. It’s pretty incredible. It’s just so easy to listen to, especially in times like this. To listen to a song like that, it just kind of puts things in perspective.”

Josh knew he wanted to make Country State of Mind as a tribute to artists who shaped his music, but he didn’t intend for it to include so many collaborations, at least not at first.

“”We all started thinking about who I could get to come in,” he shared. “We weren’t necessarily trying to make it a duet record. We just wanted to have some really special moments.”

With a combination of rising stars and legendary acts on Country State of Mind, the project became a way for the 42-year-old to connect the music he grew up on with the music of today.

“I wanted it to be a bridge,” Josh acknowledged. “In some ways, I still consider myself one of the young guys in town. And in other ways I feel like I’ve established myself to the point to where I have that name recognition, and I’m recognizable while I go out and all that kind of stuff that goes along with being an established artist, but I didn’t want to make a record and then just invite all established artists. I wanted to  bring in contemporary artists, but there was a standard that I was looking for. There were certain things that I was looking for within those artists. I wanted them to understand what was behind this kind of music and the kind of song that I offered to them.”

Josh intentionally chose Maddie & Tae for “Desperately,” partly because of their talent, and partly because of their upbringing.

“Maddie & Tae, the ‘Desperately’ song was originally done by one of my favorite artist, Bruce Robison, and one of my favorite writers,” Josh said. ‘His version of the song was actually what introduced me to the song, and then George Strait had a hit with it. I felt like it was not only paying homage to George Strait, but I was paying homage to Bruce Robinson, who is a friend of mine. I felt like with Maddie & Tae, one being from Texas, one being from Oklahoma, I felt like they would really come to understand that style of song. And so that’s exactly what they did. They went in and they totally got it.”

Purchase Country State of Mind at JoshTurner.com.