The Long Journey for Jack Ingram

When Ingram got his start in the early 1990s, he played different dives and bars, eventually becoming a major Texas artist! Years later, he found himself signing with a major label - Big Machine Records, and then having a number one song nationwide... “Wherever You Are”. Let's find out what he is up to now!

Just about any artist who signed a deal with a label will tell you that’s when the real work begins. It’s a tough pill to swallow when that deal comes in 2005 and you’ve been at it since 1992. But that’s where 34-year-old Ingram found himself when he signed with upstart independent label Big Machine already five records into his career.

The relationship proved fruitful for both parties, which is not always the way that story goes. But Ingram’s “Wherever You Are” became the first No. 1 song for both him and the label. His 2007 album This Is It made it all the way to No. 4 on the country albums chart. And in 2008, he won the Academy of Country Music’s award for Top New Male Vocalist, beating Luke Bryan and Jake Owen to get there.

But as fate would have it, Ingram’s ride into the mainstream had only one more chapter: 2009’s Big Dreams & High Hopes. The record did okay by commercial standards and avoided any notion of a “sophomore slump” by producing a few slick singles like “Barefoot and Crazy”.

Big Machine was going all in on Taylor Swift and, eventually artists like Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett and Brantley Gilbert.  Ingram parted ways with Big Machine in 2011.

The next 5 years found Ingram embracing his independent past. He began a YouTube series called “Jack Ingram’s Acoustic Motel.” Basically, he performed a new song every week. New music, old music, somebody else’s music. Just music. A simple concept, but one that was instrumental in helping him stay connected with his fans.

While Ingram got back into the Texas music scene...he refrained from releasing any new music, But he was writing constantly.

When he announced a new forthcoming album, Midnight Motel, in early 2016, folks were actually a bit surprised. Not many artists who win an ACM in 2008 and have a top-10 single in 2009 wait seven years to release their next record. But not many Texas country artists focus on the craft of storytelling quite like Ingram nowadays either.

He recorded his new album in Austin and most of the tunes come from Ingram’s writing between 2009 and 2014.

Now that Ingram’s completed his resurgence in the world of music, we can probably expect much more music regularly. In fact, he’s already got the follow-up in the pipeline.

Happy 46th Birthday today (Nov. 15th) Jack and keep the music coming!!