Jack Ingram Will Help You Choose “The Next GAC Star”

I first met Jack Ingram more than 10 years ago at Shank Hall, about the closest thing to a legendary music club as you’re going to find in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Back then, he was the guy fronting the Beat Up Ford Band, and I … well, I was a fan of the guy they were opening for, Jack’s good friend Todd Snider. Given that the town is more about Tesla than Texas barroom country, there were maybe 25 fans in the room — and after the show, a handful of us stayed to drink beers with the bands till the good proprietor tossed everyone out at closing time.

A couple years later, some friends and I gave into a whim and jumped onto a plane bound for Dallas to catch Ingram at the North Texas New Music Festival, just to see what the Houston native might sound like on his home turf — and found ourselves slack-jawed in the middle of hundreds of people, all screaming for Jack like the twang-rock star they already knew he was. So we screamed too. And Jack still drank beers with us after the show.

A few more years after that, in the middle of a solo road trip, my radio antenna picked up a voice that sounded awful familiar. And when the disc jockey announced it was Jack Ingram singing “Wherever You Are” — the number one hit on the country music charts — I nearly hit the ditch.

But here’s the thing. In Chicago a year after that, Jack Ingram still knew my name. He still kissed my cheek. And he still handed me the pink plastic bracelet I now need to go backstage and drink beers with the band.

Jack Ingram is like that. Country music is like that.

“Country artists have always taken care of their fans, and their fans take care of them,” Ingram says. “Country music fans are very loyal — that’s the greatest thing about this genre.”

And it’s why GAC has given country music fans a great big say in which country music newcomer is crowned the next Carrie Underwood, Buddy Jewel or Miranda Lambert on its hot new summer series, The Next GAC Star. Along with celebrity judges that include legendary songwriters and producers Victoria Shaw and Desmond Child, regular ol’ country music fans like you and me are encouraged to log onto www.gactv.com to vote for our favorite homemade videos by homegrown artists, literally thousands of which were winnowed down to a handful of finalists who will perform live on the series’ nail-biter finale Sept. 10.

And guess who’ll be on hand to help choose the winner — even if he’s still not convinced he’s qualified for the job?

“If I were on one of these shows, I don’t think I would get very far,” Ingram chuckles. “I’m not sure Todd or myself or a lot of the artists that I gravitate to would make it past the judges. I mean, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I don’t get asked to sing at my church.”

Instead, the guy who still calls his longtime fans by name is looking to provide the thing he wishes he’d had more of back in those days of singing for a few dozen people in towns a long, long way from Texas — good, solid, realistic advice.

“I’m not looking at it as that I’m judging anybody,” Ingram says. “I’m more or less just givin’ my opinion and tryin’ to be sympathetic to what they’re going through. If they’re reaching for the brass ring, then I think it’s my job to help them along. And if I’m being constructive with my criticism, well, then that’s fine too.

“I mean, I would have loved it if someone would have known what I was reaching for 10 or fifteen years ago and given me some pointers to help me get there.”

In other words, he’s not looking for the spangliest shirt, the most Underwood-esque beauty or possibly even the best set of pipes — he’s looking for the guy or the girl or the group who’s chasing their dream as earnestly as he did, no matter how many obstacles stand in the way. And who won’t give up no matter if their records turn to gold … or to dust.

“I think everything in this business comes from internal motivation,” Ingram explains. “If an artist is in this to make art, then you’re going to have times when you’re riding high. And you’re going to have times when you feel like no one is listening. That’s just what this journey is all about. If you’re in it for the fame and for the glory and all of that — well, that part of it can often be short-lived.”

Asked if he thinks there’s some danger, then, in not having to build up the calluses of long weeks on the road, unfriendly crowds and empty venues — in having the world at your feet a few months after it first hears your name — Ingram mulls it over for a minute or two.

“Maybe you get it backwards,” he concludes. “I think for some of these stars it may be an inverted reality — you start out selling 20 million records and wind up selling 20 later on. But as long as they love what they’re doing, that’s what matters. As long as Kelly Clarkson is doing what she loves to do and how she’s doing it, then that’s all that matters. That’s all that matters to any real artist.”

So that’s what keeps your favorite bands from high school showing up at your county fair, twenty years after you took their posters down off the wall? Exactly, says Ingram.

“Look at the county fairs,” he exclaims happily. “Elton John keeps on popping in on mine, and he’s an artist that’s been doing this for 20-30 years. Do you think he minds that his last record only sold a couple hundred thousand, and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” sold 15 million? It’s all relative. As long as the artist cares and is proud of what they’re doing, that’s all that matters.”

About Lori Acken 1195 Articles
Lori just hasn't been the same since "thirtysomething" and "Northern Exposure" went off the air.