Live at Billy Bob's Texas: Jack Ingram

Album Review

Modern day outlaw Jack Ingram brought his Beat Up Ford band to Billy Bob's Texas earlier in 2003 and left with a burning, rowdy, unruly set on tape. For those who've never encountered Ingram and his band live, this document is as solid as it gets. It's rough, raw, and outta control. Included are 15 tracks, most of which are Ingram standards such as his signature tune, "Beat Up Ford," "Red, White & Blues," "Nothing to Gain," "Ghost of a Man," "She Don't Love You," and "Run to Me," of course. In addition, there are a few stellar covers included such as the Joe Maphis classic "Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music)" and a set-ending stunner in the form of Waylon Jennings' "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way." Ingram's manner of relating to an audience has nothing to do with corny jokes, or self-styled anthems geared to get response from a drunken crowd. His delivery is honest, to the punch, and completely inside his lyrics. His writing, while far from elegant, nonetheless conveys the stories he sings with a rebel angel poet's grace. And what comes across here is the only thing that matters on any live recording, or any recording period: the transference of emotion from performer to listener, in spades.