Josh Turner is one proud father. The singer, who has four boys with his wife, Jennnifer, sees potential in all of his sons, who have abilities that he admits he didn’t have at their age.

“As far as talent and potential, my oldest three, especially, they could do anything they wanted to do if they put their mind to it and their heart was there,” Josh told UMG. “My oldest [Hampton] is incredible at playing mandolin. Colby, we kind of noticed him turn the corner lately with the fiddle, and Marion is actually playing a ukulele that’s tuned like the top four strings on a guitar, so in essence, he’s learning how to play guitar. They’ve just kind of started incorporating some singing into some playing, so they’re starting the whole singing and playing at the same time kind of thing, and not only that, they’re even learning to play songs together on their individual instruments.

“It’ss amazing to see how much they can learn in such a short amount of time,” he continued. “It makes me realize how much I missed out on when I was that age, ‘cause I did take some music lessons growing up and everything, but I think they feed off of each other honestly. I think that’s why they’re getting so good is because they’re all doing it, not just one of ‘em.”

Josh just announced his new album, Country State of Mind, would be released on August 21. The record is his homage to the artists who paved his own career, including Johnny Cash, Vern Gosdin, Hank Williams, Randy Travis and John Anderson.

“I’ve always said that any song you hear coming from my voice, you’re going to hear bits and pieces of those five guys,” Josh said of the new project. “They taught me how to be Josh Turner.”

Josh is joined on Country State of Mind by Randy and John, along with Kris Kristofferson, Chris Janson,  Allison Moorer, Maddie & Tae and Runaway June. The album is available for pre-order via Josh’s website or Amazon.