Jack Ingram
Hey You (Lucky Dog)
There sure are a lot of singer-songwriters from the Hill Country. Robert Earl Keen, Owen Temple, Jack Ingram, they all kind of start running together after awhile. Ingram’s latest offering isn’t bad, but where’s the beef? There are good songs on here, good melodies and thoughtful lyrics, but the passion seems to be lacking. Ingram shares songwriting credits with Jim Lauderdale on several songs, and the substance is certainly there; it’s the conviction that’s coming up short. One exception is the bitter “Mustang Burn” (“I don’t give a damn that your car’s on fire, it ain’t none of my concern”), on which it sounds like Ingram means it. Todd Snider, another one-time local, provides some boozy backup hollers on “Barbie Doll,” a rootsy number where Ingram’s voice takes on a Steve Earle-ish yowl. Ingram has a video on CMT these days; his scrubbed good looks should carry him far in that medium. He’d do well, though, to stock up on the piss and vinegar and turn those amps up a notch or two next time around.
This article appears in Carol Keeton Rylander.