Big Machine Records
2009
Big Dreams & High Hopes
About This Album
Jack Ingram became an "overnight success" in 2005 with his number one charting country single "Wherever You Are," after toiling for a decade in Nashville's fields. Interestingly, he scored that hit with well-heeled indie Big Machine. In 2008 he was named Male Vocalist of the Year at the Country Music Awards. That's compelling, especially in light of the way Big Dreams & High Hopes sounds. For a long time, Ingram was a poet, albeit one that Nashville bigwigs didn't want to hear from. He writes about the tough spot he felt himself in on this set's final track, "In the Corner." He castigates himself, the label that let him go, and friends and fans who tried to pigeonhole him as an "ARTIST." No more. Now, it's true that these songs -- at least the half or so he wrote on this set -- don't much resemble that angry young man who's had a poet's touch and a steely critical eye. They do, however, reflect the sound of a songwriter who knows what it takes to be successful. No more, no less. Big Dreams & High Hopes is the sound of contemporary country music and all of its tropes: the big '70s rock production, the sheen, the compressed guitars and over-amped drums, the perfectly punched vocals, the hooky pop choruses and sound effects that feel like they come from the disco era without the rhythm tracks.
Track List (try tracks 1,4,6,7 and 11)

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