Though 2006 has only just begun, it's not to soon to speculate that Josh Turner [ tickets ]'s "Your Man" might turn out to be the best mainstream country album of the year.

Turner makes good on the promise of his platinum-selling debut, 2003's "Long Black Train," in a big way with this sophomore outing. It's been a long time since any artist merged traditional country and what radio stations call "young country" as well as Turner does here. In fact, you might have to go back to such early '90s releases as "Tim McGraw" or Hal Ketchum's "Past the Point of Rescue" to find a mix as convincing and as enjoyable as "Your Man."

The 28-year-old South Carolinian is a throwback, no doubt, but he only goes back so far. Most folks classify country traditionalists as folks with twangs like Hank or outlaw sensibilities like Waylon. But that's too narrow a definition. Turner belongs to the same school that gave us George Strait, Randy Travis and Vince Gill--all classy performers who appeared on the scene with one boot in the past and one boot in the present.

Indeed, Turner's deep, rich, baritone voice definitely recalls that of Travis on winning songs such as "Would You Go With Me," "No Rush" and the title track. Plus, the musical arrangements are definitely from Travis' era, taking the middle ground between honky-tonk and polished radio material. The best thing is there's not a lick of rock to be found on the album, which definitely puts Turner in the minority in a genre ruled by the likes of Kenny Chesney and Big & Rich.

Turner goes to extremes to connect with tradition on this album--and the effort always pays off. "Loretta Lynn's Lincoln," which also namedrops Dolly Parton, is as good a novelty tune as country has had in a long time. While other so-called country artists are mining the songbooks of Jimmy Buffett and Bob Seger for inspiration, Turner strikes gold with the old Don Williams hit "Lord Have Mercy on a Country Boy." He even manages to succeed with the album's one overtly religious track, "Me and God," thanks in large part to Ralph Stanley's guest vocals.