Jack Ingram Acoustic Motel Tour @ Joe's

If you ask anyone that is really into Texas music to name some of the best albums in Texas music, Jack Ingram's Acoustic Motel record often gets named as one of the best, Just Jack and his guitar. Joe's bar was the intimate setting revisiting those days and more on a "Acoustic Motel" tour that took Jack to audiences like here in Chicago, Minneapolis and New York state. Joe's bar set up candle lit tables and the stage was set up with a couple of couches for fans to sit on behind Jack if they got the nerve to jump up there and be in the spotlight. After the first few people dared to do it it wasn't so hard for a few other groups to take their place and take turns in one of the best seats in the house only a few feet from Jack. Starting off with a song he said he was doing lately, a Patty Griffin song called "When it don't come Easy" and he does a fantastic rendition of it. Jack also has a song on his most recent album "Big Dreams and High Hopes" with Patty called "Seeing Stars" which he did later on in the show. Its a great song that should have received much more airplay than it did. The second song he played was the title to his "Hey You" album from 1999. Following that up with His song "Biloxi" about how his father often wasn't around when he was growing up and he stated "I wrote that song when i was 25 years old, before i got married, now i am married and i re-thought that song a little bit, then i had a couple kids and i thought well man maybe my dad wasn't such an asshole after all, probably doing the best he could under some pretty intense circumstances" he then said that around that time he found another song, which was a song that his friend Radney Foster sent him one day after he had heard "Biloxi" and thought of him. He sent a shout out to Chicago's US99 radio saying that if you listen to them you probably heard this song and he played "Measure of a Man" and after that song Jack said "I couldn't help but notice that after i mentioned Houston and Texas that i got an audible response" and he said "I'm from Texas too" and he preceded to talk about high school football and played the song "Great Divide" off the "This is it" album. Next he said "I got a daughter at home, her name is Ava Adele" and he launched into that beautiful song written about her after saying that he used to dislike songs about other people's kids and that he cant get away with playing the song at home because he isn't Hannah Montana.
The night went on with some great stories between the songs that only an acoustic show like this one at Joe's can afford. Shots were being passed to Jack on the stage and beers were consumed, songs were sung and laughs shared. Jack also performed "Make a Wish (coming home again)" and "Seeing Stars" which he said that after having chart success with many songs written by other people that he convinced his record company to let him have a go at it with that song and he said sarcastically said that it shot all the way up to number 56 but adding that he considers any of his songs a hit if they make it into the double digits and passed the triple digits. Jack has a recent release which is the first track on "Big Dreams and High Hopes" that he released at the start of this acoustic tour called "Free" its a perfect springtime and summer rocker written by Jay Knowles and one of my favorite writers, Trent Summar, request it on your local radio, it sounds like a hit. At the end of the show Jack came out to the edge of the stage to sing "Goodnight Moon" without a microphone encouraging everyone to sing along.
Jack studied psychology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and i think some of the songs he chooses or writes have that kind of insight and fascination into the human psyche and when you meet him it seems like he looks at you as if he is trying to read into you a bit and see what your all about. Jack announced that he will be back this summer with his band at Joe's so if you get the chance come to the show you will be entertained because like i have said here before, he is one of the best entertainers in the business and gives it all he's got. Jack is off to Australia in March and then he's on the bill for the "Country Throwdown" tour that will be coming around this spring. Click here for more photos. Some of them will be in the March 15th issue of Country Weekly magazine!