Jack Talk

Image by lsala66 via Flickr

Jack Ingram is one of my new favorite interviewees. Again. I don't know why I forgot this after the last time I talked to him, but you couldn't ask for a more thoughtful subject if you, errrr, ummm, asked for one.

I got off the phone feeling like I'd just chatted with a friend about music, not conducted a formal interview. (I wish they were all that way, but then I guess conversations like the one I had with Jack wouldn't seem as special then, would they?)

His new record, "Big Dream & High Hopes," due Aug. 25 on Big Machine Records, is a fine piece of work that I find myself listening to over and over again.

We chatted about Radney Foster, Joe Ely and Willie Nelson, among others. We also talked about his remake of his own "Barbie Doll," a live show staple that first appeared on 1999's "Hey You." "For an artist who for a long long time knew what my hits were by what people wrote on napkins and dollar bills at the front of the stage, that was probably my biggest hit," he says of the song.

The new version features Dierks Bentley plus an all star chorus that includes James Otto, the Lost Trailers, Little Big Town, Jedd Hughes and Randy Houser. "It was just a ton of fun," Jack recalls. "I've always wanted to be able to say, 'hey man, c'mon over and be part of record. Let's just hang out for a little bit'."

We also talked about his new single, "Barefoot and Crazy," and how he knew when it was connecting with his audiences. "There are certain songs that play out immediately and when you go into them live you can feel the energy in the room change," he says. "It's fantastic."

"This last week people started throwing their shoes on stage," he adds. "Three weeks ago people started holding up their flip flops."

On the day his album comes out, Jack will attempt to break the Guiness World Record for "Most Radio Interviews In A 24-Hour Period." (Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump currently hold the record, having interviewed with 72 stations last year.) I hope the DJs Jack talks to enjoy the conversations as much as I did.

More on my conversation with Jack in an upcoming issue of Billboard.