Forever Country Cover Series: Josh Turner Covers Randy Travis’ ‘Three Wooden Crosses’

There’s no denying that deep, Southern voice, even when Josh Turner tries his hand at the Randy Travis’ hit, “Three Wooden Crosses.”

Crossing the lines between Christian and country music, this moralistic song hit the hearts of many when it came out back in the early 2000s. Telling the story about the lives left behind with what seemed to be only ‘three wooden crosses’ left on the side of the road, the song gives so much more to humanize those memorials and really focused on the emotional attachment to those simple highway side pieces.

As Turner points out, “Three Wooden Crosses” is the kind of country music that does more than just describe a story, but rather reaches deeper than surface level to touch the heart.

“It was hard choosing what song I was gonna do ‘cause there were so many good ones obviously, but ‘Three Wooden Crosses’ has always been one of my favorite songs that Randy Travis has done. He was the main reason that I decided I wanted to do this for a living a long time ago when I was 13 years old or whatever. Not only was it a hit and a commercial success, but it’s such an incredible story. It’s an incredibly written song. Like I said, I think that’s the beauty of country music is that it does such a good job at telling stories about the human element, the human heart, the human emotion. So this song is one of those that really taps into that,” he said to Sounds Like Nashville exclusively.

Travis earned his 16th No. 1 song with “Three Wooden Crosses” and it made a mark on country music as it went on to win the CMA Award for Song of the Year in 2003.

For more Forever Country coverage and content, fans can head over to the celebration’s website for a number of cool features leading up to the 50th Annual CMA Awards.

The 50th Annual CMA Awards will air live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday, November 2, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.