It’s not that Jack Ingram doesn’t appreciate the appeal of “American Idol.”
If you go
Jack Ingram with Renee McCullough
Where: The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Details: $25; ticketmaster.com
For him, though, great music is achieved when songwriters capture heartfelt moments and share them with others. “It’s just not what I’m into,” Ingram said of the popular television show’s emphasis on glitzy performances. “I get why people are into it, but I also get why people love Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson. I just remember being enveloped by the music around me” when I was growing up.
During his current “Acoustic Motel Tour,” Ingram will show how he’s taken what he learned from the masters and developed it into his own sound. His latest album, “Big Dreams & High Hopes,” has quickly won popular and critical acclaim for its real-life musical vignettes that span topics as far ranging as shallow women (“Barbie Doll”) to self-reliant, hard-working men (“That’s a Man),” and religion (“Free.”)
Ingram first started to play music seriously when he was a psychology major at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Soon he regularly played Texas bars and roadhouses with his Beat Up Ford band. After independently releasing two albums, Ingram was signed to a recording contract and was soon hitting the charts. His 2006 song “Wherever You Are,” hit No. 1.
During this acoustic tour, Ingram takes his audiences on a journey through the motels and towns that helped shape him as a songwriter and performer.
The shows are more intimate than those he plays with his band. He will tour with a band later in the year including as part of the multicity, all-day “Country Throwdown Tour” that features more than a dozen country artists (At press time, the closest local show was scheduled for June 6 at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Va. For details, visit livenation.com)
During this current tour, Ingram pauses between songs and tells tales about what life is like on the road for a touring musician highlighting some of the grungier motels where he stayed as he built his name.
He said he hopes the stories will give audiences a behind-the-scene glimpse in much the same way VH1 does in television shows including “Storytellers.”
“That’s the fun part about these shows,” Ingram said. “I know some people are coming to hear those stories and some people are only coming to hear “Barefoot and Crazy” because it kind of hit them across the head. If you are a Jason Aldean fan [you likely enjoy] “Barefoot and Crazy” because it’s a similar style. My bet is if you enjoy the [storytelling] concept you will enjoy [my other songs].”
