The Rockzillaworld Interview: Jack Ingram
By Kevin Minihan
For more than 10 years now, Jack Ingram has been putting out
some of the best music in the Americana/Texas music genre. He
has ridden the wave from self-releasing his own albums in college
to major label deals. Even without a current record deal (he
was dropped from Sony) he still has all the confidence and swagger
that shows through in his recordings and live shows. I recently
got a chance to ask him a few questions about his dealings with
Sony/Lucky Dog, not selling out, his plans for the future and
some personal info and history that might surprise you.
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 KM:
You put on a great show at KHYI's Texas Music Revolution 7.
Jack Ingram: Thanks. I always love playing that show.
I've been playing that for the last 4 years or so now. Man,
it's nice to have ten thousand people all there for the same
reason.
KM: Do you like playing festivals or is there a certain type
of concert setting or type of venue that you like playing at
more or less?
JI: Well I love festivals, especially like that, where
it's a festival of like-minded fans. I mean, festivals where
it's real eclectic, I like them too but there's nothing like
getting thousands of people together for the same kind of celebration.
I love playing for as many people at one time as I can. Not
only is it fun, but you can kill a lot more birds.
KM: Yes. You can convert a lot more people at one time.
JI: Like a tent revival.
KM: Now, you are no longer with Sony/Lucky Dog; correct?
JI: No I'm not. Thank God.
KM: You announced months ago that you are starting a label
to distribute/re-release some of your previous albums. So, are
you going to look for another major label deal or, with your
new label, will you release your new material yourself?
JI: I'm still looking for a deal. I don't want to
put out a new record on our label yet, so I'm still looking for
a deal. I know what it takes to put out a record the way I want
it to be put out. And as an artist, still going full force and
recording, I don't think to do it properly that I would have
the time. I demand a lot from people that put out my records
and to try to do it myself and not be able to do it right wouldn't
be the best idea.
KM: Now, like you said, you're not with Lucky Dog anymore
but the EP Extra Volts is out now and "A Little Bit"
is getting a lot of airplay. How did that whole EP project come
about? Did the single leak out to radio? Was Sony willing to
help out?
JI: Well, they're packaging it.
KM: Not promoting it though?
JI: Well, without them I couldn't have gotten it packaged.
So they're helping a little bit. What happened was that after
I turned in Electric, they had me go back in and do some
single sessions, which is the rule not the exception. Everybody
does. I gladly did it and cut some songs including "A Little
Bit" and my friend Scott Miller's "I Won't Go With
Her", which did make the record. When I took it back to
the label though, they said that there wasn't anything there
that would get us closer to being able to get it out on country
radio. And I didn't think they were cohesive with the rest of
the songs on the record anyway. In spite of that, I took the
song "A Little Bit" down to Cody Alan at the Wolf (99.5
in Dallas) before Electric came out and he sat on it for
a long time. So, the record came out. The summer came and went.
Then, around Christmas, he came across it again. He called
me up and said he'd found it again and he loved it and he was
going to put it into rotation. And I was like wow! Of course
his timing was less than perfect as the Electric album was concerned,
but it couldn't have been better as far as getting some original
material out at that point. So I called up Sony. Even though
they had dropped me... we didn't have a huge falling out or
anything. We just decide that we couldn't continue to work together
anymore. So it was good that I could still call them up and say
this is what's going on, do you want to do something with this?
And so they agreed to put out the remaining tracks from the
Electric sessions as an EP. It was great because, not
being on the label, those songs would have been in a closet at
Sony probably forever. So to be able to get them out was very
nice. And the record is doing great.
KM: How's the live material you recorded at Gruene Hall
coming? Will label issues hold that up?
JI: Well, I'm trying to finish that up by the middle
of May. I know it's live and you're probably wondering what
there is to finish. You know, there are a few things that you
want to fix. The mistakes that aren't 'charming.' Some things
just sound bad and you think, I can't live with that. And of
course the mixing is the most important step with a live recording.
I'm still trying to figure out if I'm going to put that project
out or if it will be part of my next record deal or if I'm going
to get another deal at all. Hopefully we can get that out by
this fall regardless of my label situation.
KM: Do you have any new material you are working on/recording
right now?
JI: Yeah. I've been writing and doing some demos.
I'm always writing for the next album.
KM: Do you write your songs as they come to you or do you
hole up for a time and just write?
JI: I just write as it comes. Whether I'm on the
road, sitting at dinner or in the van. I've never been the type
to carve out time to sit down just to write. Whenever I've tried
to sit down to write it always sounds like I sat down just to
write. You know what I mean? It doesn't sound very genuine
to me. I guess I'm not very good at that.
KM: You got a chance to work with the great Buddy Miller
on Electric. He sang the harmony on your version of Scott
Miller's "I Won't Go With Her." What was that like?
JI: It was great. I called him to come in and sing
on it. It was fun. It was simple. He thought he wouldn't be
able to reach the note. Every singer fears that, especially
when they are not a 'singer.' I know he is a great singer but
he's not a 'singer,' you know? Nobody who sings this kind of
stuff is a 'singer' like in choir.
KM: Yeah, someone told me once that they were not a 'singer,'
they were a 'vocalist.'
JI: Right. I know if someone called me in to do a
session that would be my biggest fear. I don't have that big
of a range. But he was great. He didn't think he would be able
to do it and, of course, he went in and sang it great. I told
him when he left that I could now cross another thing off my
list I worked with Buddy Miller.
KM: When do you think will we see your next CD of 'new' material?
JI: I've got a lot of songs that I really like and
feel like I'm writing a lot right now. I figure I'll be making
a new record sometime this year; coming out next year.
KM: You've really seemed to keep your integrity over the
years, especially while dancing with a major label. How hard
has that been?
JI: Well, It's not that hard of a battle to keep your
integrity. When I was young it was really easy to fight those
battles. I thought I was going to save the world and country
music and that's what I was there for. So I made my record the
way I wanted to make it. You know when you're a young person
you think it's just gonna happen. It can't not happen, you know?
But then after you make a record, you realize the price you
pay for keeping your integrity. That's where the selling out
comes into play. If you don't have a vision when you are young,
then you can get swayed into different directions. For me the
hardest part of not selling out is knowing up front what you're
giving up. You're giving up promotion dollars. You're giving
up label support when you insist on making records that you believe
in fully and wholly with no compromises. It's tough but it's
a battle that you have to wage with yourself. People get this
idea that labels really know what they're doing; that they have
this major plan of how they're gonna make this happen. But that's
not really true, at least in my experience. They're relying
on the artist to create. The only problem is when you do create
and it doesn't fit into what they see as being successful at
other labels and on the radio, they lose confidence. They worry
about their own jobs. It's not that they don't like my music.
It's just that if it doesn't fit into their picture of what
is 'in' at that certain point in time, they lose confidence in
themselves. That's what I think anyway. That and a buck can
buy you a cup of coffee. That's the way I see it. I didn't
sell out, but it wasn't a battle with them, it was a battle with
myself. I'm confident enough to say that I can make songs that
sound like what's on the radio, but I'm just not willing to do
that. I still think that I can break down brick walls with my
head.
KM: Do you have any favorite Americana/Texas music performers?
JI: I love Hayes Carll. Of course, my good friend
Todd Snider.
KM: What's was the first concert you ever went to?
JI: (Laughs) Triumph. I was 12, at the Houston Coliseum.
KM: What's the first record you ever bought?
JI: The first record I bought was Abbey Road.
My friend went in and he bought Corey Hart (Sunglasses at
Night). I remember that distinctly. He bought that and
I bought the Beatles. I think I was much cooler than him.
KM: What's the last record you bought?
JI: Bright Eyes. The album is called Lifted or
the Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground. They're
really cool. They're a band from Nebraska. I don't know, man;
they sound like a garage orchestra. You should check'em out.
KM: What is your favorite movie?
JI: I like Cool Hand Luke a lot.
KM: Do you have a favorite TV show?
JI: Besides the war? That's all they show these days.
It might blow my cover but (laughs) I watch Trading Spaces
(on TLC) on the weekends. I think its fun. I think it's pretty
cool and it's not so mean.
KM: My wife's got me watching that too.
JI: Did you see the one where the piano player for
Guns N Roses and Alice Cooper was on?
KM: Yeah and Slash showed up?
JI: Yeah! That was so funny. Slash looked pretty
nervous. He was like "this is not cool."
KM: Anything you would like to say to the readers of Rockzillaworld?
JI: Thanks for giving a shit about music and being
so vocal about it. I really appreciate it.
Contact Kevin Minihan at minihan-at-rockzilla.net
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