Ingram

When the organizers of this summer music series named their concert series held every Thursday night in June and July, "Hot Summer Nights", I think they were thinking about the typically hot weather. But on this Thursday evening, a cold front had given us a reprieve from the heat, and the only thing hot that night was Jack Ingram and his Beatup Ford Band. Sherman has this great little gazebo stage built out on the lawn of their municipal building. The Lion's Club had a concession stand with great stuffed jalapenos, the bathrooms were clean and there was ample parking. The best part is that the concerts were FREE! You grabbed up the family and lawn chairs and picked a spot to watch and hear some great Texas music in an intimate outdoors-family atmosphere. It made for a pretty damn good little venue with Texas acts like Ray Wylie Hubbard, Charlie Robison, Ed Burleson, Terri Hendrix and of course, the still angst-ridden Jack Ingram.

I've been listening to Jack Ingram for several years now, and I have seen him on several occasions over the past four years. I found myself wondering on the trip to Sherman if he would still be the same Jack that helped bring me to love our kind of music. You know, the Jack that was really into his work, felt the song, showed the emotion and sang like he meant it...the Dallas based artist known as the angst-ridden Jack Ingram. After all, things have changed a lot for Jack in past few years, it's called success! Would that make a difference, has he changed? From the minute he stepped on stage and hit the first note, I knew he was still the same Jack I knew a few years back, and he reinforced that throughout the next hour and half. Very early in the show, he told us, pointing and nodding toward the merchandise table, "That's gas money over there. Up HERE is music (gesturing to the stage), and YOU (pointing toward the crowd) are doing what YOU do!" That's all it took for me to know that Jack still loves his music and the deserving success that is coming from it. Not so much by the words he said, but by the way he said them, with true conviction for the music he loves to create.

He started out with Hey You, the title track off of his newest CD, "Hey You, and followed with "How Many Days" and then "Work This Out". Between almost every song, he would talk to the crowd and would sometimes intro his next song with little background stories. He introduced his fourth song, "Anymore Good Loving", telling the crowd he co-wrote the tune with Bruce Robison while they were in a McDonald's parking lot in Waco. It's a honky tonk sound sang by a very convincing Mr. Ingram (and you can hear Bruce's influence in the music) with a chorus of:

"You get a little bit of hugging, you get a whole lot of pain.

You get a little bit of sunshine, you get a whole lot of rain.

And a whole lot of heartache, for just a little good time.

Anymore good loving, will drive me out of my mind."

What red-blooded American adult hadn't felt like that before? Jack Ingram can drive it home with his expressions, his direct eye contact with one person in the crowdand bring the rest of the crowd with him as he does it.

Following that hot little tear-jerker, they sang, "There Ain't Nothin' Wrong with a Beat Up Ford, Part II. And there ain't nothing wrong with that either! Jack and his band have it down to a science, they don't miss a lick-they're tight! Yet they still play like they're doing it for the first time...OK, maybe the second or third. The set continued after a short break for sponsor announcements, and the next song was "Ghost of a Man" which he wrote after he watched Hank Williams, Sr., he told his fans. "Working on a Fine Tune" was the next tune, which he co-wrote with Todd Snider. This was the surprise of the night for me. It's a "fine tune". The next song was, "Make My Heart Flutter" which is always a crowd favorite (and also one of mine). I almost melted when he looked straight at me and sang about four lines before he turned his eyes away. Next was "Mustang Burn", "Beat Up Ford (Part 1) and "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance", Rusty Weir's biggest hit. By this time, the crowd was all Jack's and for the first time in this conservative atmosphere, people were moving closer to the stage and part of the lawn was becoming a makeshift dance floor. "Dim Lights, Thick Smoke and Loud, Loud Music" was next, followed by "Juanita" and finally "Barbie Doll" to end the show.

Would Jack get away without an encore? Not that night! The crowd screamed for more, and Jack returned with "Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way?", thanked the fans again and left the stage. Another chant came from the crowd asking for him back again. This time, Jack returned to the stage alone with his guitar and did the song, "Good Night Moon", a slower ballad that mellowed the rowdy crowd and seemed to satisfy most. He ended the song with just " Good Night" (leaving off moon), smiled and waved to the crowd and went to meet his fans that were anxiously waiting for a chance to talk with the personable Jack Ingram.

Now I know why Jack is doing so well in his music career. He truly loves what he's doing and the fans that come to support him. It shows in his music, his mannerisms, his eyes, his smile, his voice and his attitude. Jack Ingram is the real thing. He is the type of artist that doesn't take his success for granted and puts everything he has into every show-even the free ones. In this writer's opinion, Jack Ingram will be a mainstay for as long as he chooses to be.

Written by Lana Hughes

On Stage: Jack Ingram and the Beatup Ford Band

Date: July 27, 2000

Venue: Sherman Municipal Gazebo Stage

Sherman, Texas