James Otto photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

That’s not to say that it’s strictly a party album. "Soldiers & Jesus" could be seen as arriving in the lineage of "In Color," the touching tale of a veteran that James co-wrote with and for his friend Jamey Johnson, which earned them Song of the Year trophies at both the CMA and ACM Awards, as well as a Grammy nomination for Best Country Song.

"Soldiers & Jesus" is no rote patriotic anthem. As the grandson of a Korean War veteran, the son of a drill sergeant who was in the military for 23 years, and as a Navy vet himself, James feels an intensely personal connection with the song’s message? which, he stresses, is not a political one. "Being a guy who considers himself a Christian, I think this song addresses a subject that needs to be addressed. One of the lines is, ‘There’s a left side, a right side, and then there’s the truth.’ Regardless of the politics that can often divide our nation ? This song basically just wants to lay it out as Christians see it—that there’s only two people that ever gave their lives for you, and it’s soldiers and Jesus."

And then, landing somewhere between a sober ballad like that and the crowd-baiting rockers, are the album’s exercises in slinky, sexy soul. Take the leadoff single, "Groovy Little Summer Song," escapist fare "in the tradition of Carolina shag songs"—by which he means the ‘60s "shag" genre of east coast beach tunes, though you could be forgiven for favoring the other interpretation.

If you liked "Just Got Started Loving You," you should really love its sequel, "Sun Comes ‘Round Again." When I introduce this song, I say, ‘This song here is for all of y’all out there who thought ‘Just Got Started Loving You’ was foreplay and wanted the loving to go on all night long.’"

And James arguably saves the best for last by ending the disc with a duet with a legend who was an obvious influence on the entire project, Ronnie Milsap. "He came in and just sang his butt off and told musical stories all day long," James beams. "It definitely was one of the greatest moments I’ve spent in the business, because I got to sit with one of my heroes and hear him sing one of my songs. It was a raise-the-hair-on-your-arms moment."

There’s a long and storied tradition of this soulful influence in country music—just not so much lately. James’s self-appointed task was to contemporize a hybrid style associated with heritage stars like Milsap and Conway Twitty and add some Southern-rock edge to the easygoing soul. In this, he had the strong support of Warner Music Nashville president and CEO John Esposito. And as a collaborator he had revered producer Paul Worley, who was responsible for the Dixie Chicks’ 10-times-platinum albums, the biggest hits by Martina McBride and Big & Rich, and most recently helmed the biggest-selling album of 2010, by Lady Antebellum.

"We went straight after it this time, man," says James. "My goal on this album was to make a country-soul album. My band and I were playing more of that kind of thing live, and it was really working for us. ‘Just Got Started Loving You’ was a perfect example of a great country-soul song, and I told everybody involved with this record, ‘Look, I want to have a whole album full of that, where it all sounds like it belongs on the same record.’ Like Ray Charles did Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, going in to do a country record, we were going to come at that from the other side."

James hails from the great Northwest, which hasn’t turned out a huge number of country stars, though it hasn’t been for lack of local interest. "Country music is actually really big up there. I know when people think of Washington state they think of Seattle, but the side of WA that I’m from, which is the high plains/desert side, is all straight-up agricultural." Not that he isn’t equally proud of being a Nashvillian, which you might guess from his ability to pinpoint the date he made the move ("thirteen years ago, August 4").