"Turning Home" is a song written by

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Coun ...

and Scooter Carusoe, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

David Nail David Brent Nail (born May 18, 1979) is an American country music artist, and frontman of the band ''David Nail & The Well Ravens''. In 2002, he debuted the single "Memphis" from an unreleased album for Mercury Records Nashville. Five years lat ...

. It was released in January 2010 as the third single from Nail's debut album ''

I'm About to Come Alive ''I'm About to Come Alive'' is the debut studio album by American country music singer David Nail. It was released on August 18, 2009 via Universal Music Group Nashville, MCA Nashville. The album, produced by Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke, includ ...

'', as well as his fourth single release overall. The song was nominated in the

Best Male Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance was awarded between 1965 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: *From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Male *In 1968 it was a ...

category at the

53rd Grammy Awards The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights pri ...

, however, it lost to "

'Til Summer Comes Around "Til Summer Comes Around" is a song co-written and recorded by Australian country music singer Keith Urban. It was released in November 2009 as the fourth single from his 2009 album '' Defying Gravity''. The song peaked at number 3 on the US ''Bill ...

" by Keith Urban.

Production and writing

The song was written by

and Scooter Carusoe, who wrote Chesney's singles "

Anything but Mine "Anything but Mine" is a song written by Scooter Carusoe and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released in January 2005 as the fifth single from Chesney's 2004 album '' When the Sun Goes Down''. The song reached numb ...

" and "

Better as a Memory "Better as a Memory" is a song written by Scooter Carusoe and Lady Goodman and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released in March 2008 as the fourth and final single from Chesney's 2007 album '' Just Who I Am: Poets ...

." Chesney had originally planned to record it himself. In "Turning Home," the narrator recalls events from his high school days, referring to that time of his life as his "glory days." It includes a prominent piano section, because Nail wanted a strong piano player for the album. Nail told '' The Tennessean'' that he identified with the song's theme: "I just knew that this was that song that I had been searching for ��eing from a small town in southeast Missouri, all the imagery in the song was something that I could really relate to."

Critical reception

Bobby Peacock of ''Roughstock'' gave a mostly favorable review, considering the song "a bit overproduced" but saying that Nail "delivers the song powerfully." Juli Thanki of Engine 145 gave the song a thumbs-down, saying that she considered the song's production "overblown" in its latter half. She thought that it was one of the weakest-written tracks on the album, but praised Nail's "strong, pleasant voice."

Music video

The video was directed by Stephen Shepherd and premiered on CMT on March 12, 2010. It was shot in black-and-white and on location in his hometown of Kennett, Missouri. It shows Nail giving an impromptu performance in two costumes. He first sings with a hat, wristwatch, and short-sleeved shirt, making him completely unrecognizable. The second & third verses and choruses feature him singing in a black shirt, no hat, and bracelet. Scenes also feature him singing on the bleachers of his high school football field. During the performance, his band also appears.

Chart performance

"Turning Home" debuted at number 49 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts dated for the week ending February 13, 2010. The song entered that chart's Top 40 at number 39 on the chart dated for March 6, 2010, becoming Nail's second Top 40 hit on that chart. In August, it peaked at number 20 on the country chart.

References

{{David Nail 2010 singles Country ballads 2010s ballads David Nail songs Songs written by Kenny Chesney MCA Nashville Records singles Song recordings produced by Frank Liddell 2009 songs Songs written by Scooter Carusoe