Jack Ingram Albums (14)
'Big Dreams & High Hopes'
Release Date 8/25/2009
Tracks 13
Label Big Machine
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What The Critics Say
Jack Ingram became an "overnight success" in 2005 with his number one charting country single "Wherever You Are," after toiling for a decade in Nashville's fields. Interestingly, he scored that hit with well-heeled indie Big Machine. In 2008 he was named Male Vocalist of the Year at the Country Music Awards. That's compelling, especially in light of the way Big Dreams & High Hopes sounds. For a long time, Ingram was a poet, albeit one that Nashville bigwigs didn't want to hear from. He writes about the tough spot he felt himself in on this set's final track, "In the Corner." He castigates himself, the label that let him go, and friends and fans who tried to pigeonhole him as an "ARTIST." No more. Now, it's true that these songs -- at least the half or so he wrote on this set -- don't much resemble that angry young man who's had a poet's touch and a steely critical eye. They do, however, reflect the sound of a songwriter who knows what it takes to be successful. No more, no less. Big Dreams & High Hopes is the sound of contemporary country music and all of its tropes: the big '70s rock production, the sheen, the compressed guitars and over-amped drums, the perfectly punched vocals, the hooky pop choruses and sound effects that feel like they come from the disco era without the rhythm tracks. That doesn't make it a bad record. Fans of contemporary country music showed their delight from the jump: the massive response that greeted summertime anthem "Barefoot and Crazy," the album's first single, is evidence enough. As for the rest, Ingram wrote or co-wrote the album's best songs. There's the beautiful ballad "Seeing Stars," a duet with Patty Griffin; "Not Giving Up on Me," a midtempo power ballad about wreckage and redemption; and "Barbie Doll" (co-written with Todd Snider), a solid swaggering street rocker that features Dierks Bentley and Little Big Town. The title track is written in Ingram's older style (despite the presence of Nash Vegas production) -- it's got the elegant simplicity, the simple tune, and the keen insight that brought most of his original fans to his door. And then there's "In the Corner." Big Dreams & High Hopes is the sound of capitulation to Nashville's almighty success mandate. It's the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" philosophy at work. Ingram is a distinctive vocalist and -- when he wants to be -- just as singular a songwriter, but it seems he's content to follow in the footsteps of that other great pop country songwriter and guitar picker, Keith Urban. There's nothing wrong with that. Contemporary country fans will eat this up, fill concert halls, and blast it at parties and out of their cars and trucks. Ingram has said in an interview that, though he loves music, "To me it's a job, I go to work and come home like any job." That's what Big Dreams & High Hopes sounds like, too: the work of a fine craftsman who gets all the details right, without a flaw. That said, Ingram's latest doesn't fit the definition of a work by an artist, because this set isn't original in any way. It seems that he can not only live with this compromise, but he freely chose it, and celebrates it here. Good for him. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
You have to hand it to anybody for opening a record with a tune by the great Radney Foster. Jack Ingram does, and his 2007 issue, This Is It, certainly is. Produced by Jeremy Stover, Doug Lancio, and Ingram, the disc features 12 solid country-rockers along with videos for "Wherever You Are" and "Love You." Ingram started as a rough and rowdy Texas songwriter who had his eyes full of Steve Earle, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Townes Van Zandt, and Robert Earl Keen. At the age of 37, Ingram has grown immensely as a writer and as a performer -- he hasn't yet reached the lofty heights of his legendary forebears, but the winning is in the striving. The raw, rowdy bravado of his earlier records has given way to the more polished and sonically adventurous sound of a man who looks to the margins for hope and finds truths to be heeded in his greatest teachers: memories, bliss, and hardships. Check the Foster-penned "Measure of a Man," with its lithe ringing guitars and big percussive punch. It's the story of a kid who leaves home at 15: "I burned those wheels down the highway/I learned what I learned the hard way/Do the best you can do/Love many, trust few/Work hard for the money in your hands/That's the measure of a man/Anger burns, love cools it down/Pretty young woman turned my head around/The world through her eyes looks so different/She lives on faith/She looks for forgiveness...." The guitars bust out of the gate and the drums try to double-time the band as Ingram lets it all come down around him. But there are other places on the album where he looks at the small things to find big instructions -- e.g., in the pomp and circumstance of "Hold On" and the truly moving "Wherever You Are," which gives the pop and roll of Keith Urban a run for its money. This doesn't mean that Ingram doesn't have the swagger anymore; it's an inherent part of his musical persona, as evidenced in his own "Don't Want to Hurt Anymore" and the folksy jukebox pop Americana that is "All I Can Do." It's true that some of Ingram's earlier fans may balk at this new, far more accessible direction. The album is slick and savvy, but that's what needed to happen if he wanted to do more than play giant beer halls in Texas for rowdy fratboys -- if you don't grow, you die. This Is It is the work of a mature, tough, and inventive songwriter and performer. It should reach a larger and more diverse audience than anything he's recorded to date. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'Maybe She'll Get Lonely'
Release Date 1/1/2007
Tracks 3
Label Big Machine
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What The Critics Say
Jack Ingram's Live Wherever You Are is a strange little album. It is live for the most part, though its title track was recorded in the studio, and "Never Knocked Me Down," comes from a CMT Outlawsbroadcast. The rest is taken from various stages and places along the road, and the record sounds like that -- too chopped up. The editing process tried hard to capture the flow of a single gig, but it still comes across as a reflection of its title. There's nothing wrong with this per se, but as it is, Live Wherever You Are feels more like a stopgap between studio albums just to have something on the market. There are some great performances here, such as his read of "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line," and "Goodnight Moon," and some silly ones, too, that appear to be novelty crowd-pleasers like "Happy Happy (Country Country)." Ingram can be a truly electrifying performer, but that has never been captured on his studio recordings. Perhaps he wants to keep those two parts of his vocation separate. But the bottom line is, that when a set is constructed like this one is, so abruptly in feel without normal transitions, something gets lost; and it feels like that here. Some songs really burn, while others feel out of place in line. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'Live at Billy Bob's Texas'
Release Date 10/14/2003
Tracks 15
Label Smith Music Group
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What The Critics Say
Modern day outlaw Jack Ingram brought his Beat Up Ford band to Billy Bob's Texas earlier in 2003 and left with a burning, rowdy, unruly set on tape. For those who've never encountered Ingram and his band live, this document is as solid as it gets. It's rough, raw, and outta control. Included are 15 tracks, most of which are Ingram standards such as his signature tune, "Beat Up Ford," "Red, White & Blues," "Nothing to Gain," "Ghost of a Man," "She Don't Love You," and "Run to Me," of course. In addition, there are a few stellar covers included such as the Joe Maphis classic "Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music)" and a set-ending stunner in the form of Waylon Jennings' "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way." Ingram's manner of relating to an audience has nothing to do with corny jokes, or self-styled anthems geared to get response from a drunken crowd. His delivery is honest, to the punch, and completely inside his lyrics. His writing, while far from elegant, nonetheless conveys the stories he sings with a rebel angel poet's grace. And what comes across here is the only thing that matters on any live recording, or any recording period: the transference of emotion from performer to listener, in spades. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
You know Jack Ingram has to be an "alt-country" performer. For one thing, his songs rock, and for another thing, he's witty enough to have a song lyric like "Everybody loves you/Jesus told you so/Everybody's lying/Hell, even Jesus knows." Ingram's songs mix a subtle background of country and folk with a hefty dose of roots rock, and the result is reminiscent of early Rolling Stones or Bob Dylan without the fancy wordcraft. In fact, Ingram's lyrics are simple but often humorous, as on "We're All in This Together," and the above-quoted "Everybody." While many of the songs on this album are fast-moving and danceable, the last three songs are performed acoustically. While they may not live up to the title Electric, they demonstrate Ingram's ability to do "old-style" country -- but with a modern twist. Despite the occasional touch of slide guitar, this is country for city folk, music that fits in well with the Adult Album Alternative radio format. ~ Lynne Bronstein, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Bouncing back from his first, abortive major-label experience with the shuttered Rising Tide imprint, Jack Ingram lands on another custom label, Sony's Lucky Dog, for his fifth album overall, Hey You. And he just keeps doing what he does, which is producing a lightened version of the kind of Texas singer/songwriter honky tonk music typical of Joe Ely and Steve Earle. Ingram's primary subject is the difficulty of communication between lovers, a topic he pursues in songs like "Talk About," "How Many Days," and "Work This Out." But his better songs are more specific, and often seem to derive from their opening lines. "Biloxi," in which a son criticizes his father for abandoning the family, begins, "Where in hell did you go, " while "Mustang Burn," in which the singer addresses a man whose automobile he may or may not have torched, starts with, "I don't give a damn that your car's on fire." They tell stories that grab you right away, and they're good enough that you wish Ingram's songs were all that good and wonder why they're not. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Country-rock chock full of blue-collar charm, Livin' or Dyin' is Jack Ingram's take on life after years of being in the road. While he covers Guy Clark's "Rite Ballou" and Jimmie Dale Gilmore's "Dallas," he makes them both sound like originals. Full of rockabilly guitar licks, Ingram songwriting shows that he has done his lessons and is now ready to graduate. "Imitation of Love" even comes across as an honest-to-goodness pop tune. Livin' or Dyin' is a great statement from one of country-rock's finest rising stars. ~ James Chrispell, All Music Guide
