Most retirements are spent in the recliner watching Bob Barker or Ben Matlock, but not Steve Turner’s.
The 53-year-old recently retired from UPS to revisit his younger days as a guitarist when he played in Majik, a band that toured the Southeast opening for Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sly and the Family Stone and REO Speedwagon in the ’70s.
The rocker didn’t have to look too far to find his lead singer. He dipped into his gene pool to find singer-songwriter-and son-Christian Turner. The pair said they look forward to making their Starkville debut at Polliwog’s tonight at 9:30.
“Anytime we can present what we’ve got to a new audience is a treat,” Steve said. “We wanna bring some joy into people’s lives.”
The two have performed together in over 100 shows (sometimes with a full band, sometimes by themselves) since 1998. They expect that number to increase now that Steve has retired.
“My dad is a mainstay-he played so long, it’s impossible for me to not like music,” Christian said. “Growing up, I would hear a song and mention it and Dad would play it. It impressed my friends.”
Christian said despite his father’s musical background, performing didn’t always come easy.
“I was shy-kind of introverted about singing, but my sister dragged it out of me,” Christian said. “Something clicked in ’97 and I started writing.”
Other than his father, Christian credits current singer-songwriters Edwin McCain and Angie Aparo as being influences.
“Anytime I do songs by Edwin McCain or Angie Aparo is a treat. They are fun and I have a sense of pride because both are friends of mine,” Christian said. “It’s the closest feeling I can have to it being my song. I don’t ever want to injustice one of their songs.”
Christian said other sources inspired him and will be in tonight’s performance.
“I’m a soul and blues fanatic. I love the raw feel of the blues cats. How can you play in Mississippi and not play the blues?”
The Turner tandem performs original songs as well as covers from Bob Marley to Peter Gabriel to Otis Redding. Tonight they will play around 35 songs, with 14 or 15 written by Turner.
“I try to find a happy medium. I want to maintain artistic integrity, but people like to hear what they are familiar with,” Christian said. “We usually pick two or three songs we haven’t done. We talk about them to make sure we are comfortable with the songs so the show isn’t a train wreck.”
One fan never misses a show. Kathy Turner is a proud mom and wife who has been just about everywhere her two favorite fellows have been.
“Christian inherited his vocal talent from me,” Kathy said with a smile.
Steve said it’s hard to put into words the feelings he gets from performing with his son.
“When I look at her and look at him, I get emotional because it’s my son, it’s a song we wrote, I am playing with him, I love the music style and I love his mother,” Steve said.
The family’s musical highlight came when Christian and Steve opened for Bad Company’s West Coast tour in January 2002.
Steve said he has a newfound appreciation for performing that he took for granted in his earlier days. “I didn’t value things as much then as I do now because back then I was trying to ‘make it.’ What’s making it? Making it is being happy with what you do.”
“The Bad Company tour was the pinnacle so far,” Christian said. “I was actually hanging out with Edwin on New Year’s when I got the call.”
When Christian was hanging out with McCain, devastating news came just a month ago as he attended McCain’s show in Nashville and longtime friend Jonathon Wyatt of Memphis did not show up.
“We were going to meet in Nashville for the show,” Christian recalled. “There was no way he’d miss it. His voicemail was full.”
A phone call during the first song brought news that Wyatt had died.
“I was hysterical outside for an hour before I went back in,” Christian remembered. “I didn’t want to face reality. I was basically in shock.”
Christian said that being where he was helped him deal with the loss of his friend. “We slipped Edwin a note before his encore and he dedicated “Let it Slide” to Jon-Jon that night. It’s about wild Memphis nights. The three of us certainly had those.”
Wyatt, whose cause of death is still unknown, was scheduled to perform with Christian at Front Page Deli on Valentine’s Night in Clarksville, Tenn. Instead of taking the stage with Wyatt that night, Christian had to leave his friend behind and canceled his show for the first time.
Last Friday Christian and Steve took the stage but were not alone. A 4-by-6-inch framed picture of Wyatt completed the trio. Christian asked McCain to make a small adjustment to McCain’s lyrics when covering “Solitude.”
“I told Edwin that I wanted to change the name in the opening line to Jon, because he was a brother to me,” Christian said. “I will always sing that song about him now-close my eyes and pretend he’s next to me. It will stir my emotions the rest of my life.”