Jack Ingram - Keep on Keepin' On

Jack Ingram


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Jack Owen Ingram (born November 15, 1970) is an American country music artist signed to Big Machine Records, an independent record label. He has released eight studio albums, one extended play, six live albums and seventeen singles. Although active since 1992, Ingram did not reach the U.S. country Top 40 until the late 2005 release of his single "Wherever You Are". A number one hit on the Billboard country charts, it was also his first release for Big Machine and that label's first Number One hit. Besides this song, Ingram has sent six other songs into the country Top 40: "Love You," a cover version of Hinder's "Lips of an Angel," "Measure of a Man," "Maybe She'll Get Lonely," "That's a Man" and "Barefoot and Crazy."

Ingram was born in The Woodlands, Texas. He started writing songs and performing while studying psychology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Ingram toured throughout the state of Texas in the early 1990s, opening for Mark Chesnutt and other acts. His first release was the self-titled Jack Ingram in 1992 via the Rhythmic label, followed by Lonesome Question in 1995. Warner Bros. Records eventually signed him and released a live album entitled Live at Adair's, and re-issued his first two indie albums.

In 1997, he released Livin' or Dyin' via Rising Tide Records, which produced his first chart single in the #51-peaking "Flutter". Two years later came Hey You via Lucky Dog, a division ofEpic Records, which accounted for a #64 country single in its title track. In 2000, he collaborated with Charlie Robison and Bruce Robison for the live album Unleashed Live.

Electric, his second album for Lucky Dog, was also his first album to enter Top Country Albums, despite not producing a chart single. This album was supplemented a year later by an EPentitled Electric: Extra Volts before he left Lucky Dog. Two more live albums followed before he signed to Columbia Records for the release of Young Man in 2004, which accounted for no singles. Another live album, Acoustic Motel, was issued in 2005.

In 2005, Ingram signed to the independent record label Big Machine Records. Under the Big Machine banner, Ingram released a predominantly live album entitled Live: Wherever You Are. His first single release on that record label, "Wherever You Are", became Ingram's first top 40, and later his first Number One single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, as well as the first Number One for the Big Machine label. "Love You", the only other studio track on Live: Wherever You Are, was also released as a single, peaking at #12 on the charts. This song was also recorded by Trent Summar & The New Row Mob (whose frontman, Trent Summar, co-wrote it) on their 2005 album Horseshoes & Hand Grenades.

In late 2006, Ingram released a cover of Hinder's song "Lips of an Angel". Ingram's cover peaked at #16 on the country charts "Lips of an Angel" was the lead-off single to This Is It, his second album for Big Machine. This album also produced the #18 "Measure of a Man" (a Radney Foster co-write) and the #24 "Maybe She'll Get Lonely".

He won the Academy of Country Music award for top new male vocalist on May 19, 2008. Ingram also filled in for radio host Bob Kingsley on the countdown show "Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40" for the week of September 20-21, 2008.

According to CMT, Ingram's Big Dreams & High Hopes album has "more guts" and Ellis Paul's "The World Ain't Slowing Down" may be the song that takes Ingram to the "next level".Ingram says "It'll be fun for me to expose people to a fantastic song from an artist who's had a 20-year career of being a very successful folk artist." The song was cut from the album. Its lead-off single "That's a Man" charted in the Top 20, followed by "Barefoot and Crazy," which became his second Top 10 hit.

On August 26, Ingram set a Guinness record for the most radio interviews in one day, when he was interviewed 215 times.

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