UPDATES

JULY 10 >> JACK TO BE A JUDGE ON "NEXT GAC STAR" FINALE.

POSTED BY CHELSEA |

Guess what? Jack Ingram will be one of the judge's at the "Next GAC Star" finale! I've never pictured Jack as a judge... so I'm sure this will be interesting. ^-^ The finale airs on September 10 on GAC at 9:00 PM eastern time.

From GAC:

Big Machine Records recording artist Jack Ingram already boasts an impressive resume of singer, songwriter and recipient of the 2008 Academy of Country Music's Best New Male Vocalist award. This fall, he will add celebrity judge to that list when he provides his personal insights and advice to the six hopeful finalists during the finale of Great American Country's "Next GAC Star" talent competition, September 10 at 9 p.m. ET, powered by Music Nation.

"It's never easy to act as an expert and 'judge' someone else whose music style or approach may be different from yours, but I think I can assist these artists by providing feedback they can take into consideration and use to better their music," says Jack. "I'm honored GAC asked me to contribute my experiences and that I can help them as they provide aspiring artists an opportunity to receive critiques and national television exposure."

Jack, who was called "an incredible talent" by his idol, the late Waylon Jennings, began his career over a decade ago in the hardscrabble honky-tonks and dancehalls of Texas. After signing with Big Machine Records, he was the most played new artist in 2006 (according to Mediabase) and performed over 320 live shows in two years. His current album, This Is It, debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard country album chart and his hits include the No. 1 smash "Wherever You Are," along with "Love You" (Top 10), "Lips of an Angel" (Top 15) and the Top 20 hit "Measure of a Man."

Jack is no stranger to being in front of the camera. Earlier this year he co-hosted GAC’s network special, "2008 ACM Preview," alongside Miranda Lambert and Nan Kelley. He has also appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and "CNN Headline News." Jack has toured nationally with Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Toby Keith, Dierks Bentley, Sheryl Crow, and currently with Martina McBride.

Currently, GAC has announced 10 of the 16 semi-finalists — five chosen by national voting online and five chosen by music industry insiders. On September 3, the network will present a one-hour special on the six finalists who are vying to win a record deal with Original Signal Recordings, a Gibson Hummingbird Guitar and a music video, which will air on GAC. Jack will join Desmond Child and Victoria Shaw during the live 90-minute program on September 10 that will broadcast from Nashville and feature finalist performances and viewer voting to name the "Next GAC Star."

JULY 10 >> GALLERY UPDATE.

POSTED BY CHELSEA |

The following galleries have either been updated or added! They can all be found under "Appearances & Events" in the Gallery section!

• 43rd Annual ACM Awards
• 43rd Annual ACM Awards All-Star Jam
• 2008 ACM New Artists' Party for a Cause

JULY 8 >> NEW LAYOUT.

POSTED BY CHELSEA |

Obviously, I finally got the new layout up! I hope you all like it! You will rarely see me using a purple color scheme... but I thought that everything with this layout just went together just fine. I moved the navigation, welcome message, and the sub-site links to the header image to save room, so yeah. I think it looks rather nice. ^-^

And for the record, I am going by my real name on this site--which is Chelsea--instead of my usual Internet name, Islandstar. Just figured I should say that to prevent any confusion. :3

Over the next few weeks, I will be adding images to the gallery, re-doing a lot of the informational content, and working on a new look for the forum, etc. So... prepare for several updates. -.o

JULY 4 >> BACK & PLANS.

POSTED BY CHELSEA |

I feel as if I am being a very horrible webmistress for this site. ;-; I have been back from vacation for a good two weeks, and have not updated the site... at all. But that will change. Soon. Hopefully. I really need to get over my procrastination...

I am going to give Jack Ingram Fan a HUGE revamp, along with a brand-new layout. I have several images to post in the gallery... so those will be up after the revamp. I would *love* to create the new layout using images from Jack's "Lips of an Angel" music video, but I have yet to find a place where I can actually download the music video so I can create screen captures. ;-; So if anyone knows of a site where I can download the video, then please contact me!

So if I cannot create a new layout using images from the "Lips of an Angel" video, then I will work on coming up with something else today.

That should be all for now. Oh yeah--and Happy Fourth of July! x3

JUNE 12 >> GOING ON VACATION.

POSTED BY CHELSEA |

I am *really* sorry about the lack of updates... There isn't much going on right now, but yeah. =/ Jack even has a new song out. It's not out on radio yet, but he's starting to play it at a few shows and you can listen to it on Youtube by going here. It's called "Not Giving Up On Me" and it has actually been out for a while, which makes me feel bad seeing how big of a fan I am of his. >< But the song though... Oh my gosh. It is amazing. One of my favorite songs of his, and the studio version isn't even out yet! xD I cannot wait for the next CD.

Anyway, time for my yearly vacation with my family! I wanted to go ahead and post this today, because I won't have any time tomorrow because I'll be so busy packing. ^-^ I will be gone from June 14 through June 21. When I get back... I hope to give the gallery a *large* update. And then hopefully I can work on giving this site a new layout. x3

Until next time!

--Chelsea.

MAY 27 >> INGRAM SHINED HERE FIRST.

POSTED BY CHELSEA |

He first appeared on stage as a little one helping his mother present awards during her dancing classes. But during his May 18 stage appearance, Jack Ingram, a 1989 McCullough High School graduate, was the one receiving the award; and it was a long time coming, according to the ones who know him best.

Ingram, 37, was named the “Top New Male Vocalist” during the 43rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards. He’s come a long way from his lead role in the school play as a first-year drama student his senior year.

“It’s about time,” Connie Godwin, who directed Ingram when he starred as Bill Starbuck in McCullough’s 1989 production of “The Rainmaker,” said about Ingram’s award. “He’s been so amazing for so long, I find it amazing they call it ‘top new vocalist.’

“Even then, you just knew he was going to do something great.”

Ingram’s mother, Peggy, said Jack was always a natural on stage.

“I had no idea he’d get to where he is today,” said Peggy, who attended the awards ceremony. “He loved being on stage from the time he was little. I think he considered it just like walking around anywhere.

“He always said he’d grow up to be a singer or something and I would say ‘Oh, that’s great.’ But, I didn’t know where he would end up.”

The entire Ingram family was into music, going to music festivals with the children.

“Jack really liked country music,” Peggy said. “He went to bed with headphones.”

While at Southern Methodist University, where Jack earned a degree in psychology, he started attending open mic nights and soon became a regular on the Texas music scene, Peggy said.

However, it wasn’t until he signed with Big Machine Records and his No. 1 single “Wherever You Are” hit the airwaves.

“It's been a long road to get to be a new male vocalist, which I think sometimes is lost in the story of all these new artists around town,” Jack told reporters backstage May 18, according to www.cmt.com. “Sometimes it takes a long time, and that's my story. To be here tonight, I'm grateful, I'm honored and I also own it. I've put in a lot of miles and hard work, and I'm proud of the work I've done so far in my career. Hopefully, it just took a long time to get to the starting line and we're off to the races.”

Jack and his wife Amy, who married in 1996, and their three children, a 5-year-old daughter and 3-year-old and 1-year-old sons, live in Austin.

“He has a job he loves and that’s the most important thing,” Peggy said. “He thanks the fans because they give him that.”

Source: hcnonline.com

MAY 22 >> Jack Ingram Shrugs Off Critics.

POSTED BY CHELSEA |

Jack Ingram has made an impressive shift in the last couple years from life as a Texas alt.country act into a mainstream country artist, and he capped off that development on Sunday when he picked up the Top New Male Vocalist honor from the Academy of Country Music.

With a few hits under his belt and the good vibes headed his way from the industry, it’d be easy to think that Jack’s gotten nothing but support in his journey. But that’s not the case. He’s come under criticism from some fans and reviewers who would prefer he stuck with the music that he did when he was a cult favorite, rather than a full-fledged star. Jack, however, would like his career to mimic the unpredictable nature of one of rock music’s most creative figures, and that pretty much guarantees he’ll always have someone less than happy with his choices.

"I’m a huge fan of Neil Young," Jack told Dial-Global. "If he makes a record or takes a turn that I don’t like, I’m still a huge fan of Neil Young. And when he makes the next record, I’ll go buy it and I’ll see where he’s going next. I’ve always taken that approach to anybody that has anything negative to say about what I’m doing musically — if they agree, disagree or otherwise. It’s like this is my journey, and I’m glad to bring everybody along with me. And those that don’t like what I’m doing at one point in my career, I’m a firm believer that by the time it’s all over, my body of work will tell you what my musical story is. And I think those fans will come and go, and hopefully come to stay at some point. It’s about ebb and flow."

One group of people that’s likely supportive of Jack at the moment is the rock band Hinder. He remade their song "Lips Of An Angel" as a country hit, and the airplay it received in both genres helped the group earn Song of the Year honors Tuesday night at the 56th annual Pop Awards held in Los Angeles by the performing rights organization BMI.

Source: GAC

MAY 21 >> JACK DISCUSSES HIS ACM WIN.

POSTED BY CHELSEA |

Taken from this article--

Ingram has traveled a longer road in achieving his status as the ACM's top new male artist. The singer-songwriter first hit the country singles chart in 1997, but he had been a major act in his home state of Texas for several years before that. Ingram finally got country radio's attention with "Measure of a Man," "Love You" and the No. 1 single, "Wherever You Are."

"It's been a long road to get to be a new male vocalist, which I think sometimes is lost in the story of all these new artists around town," Ingram told reporters backstage. "Sometimes it takes a long time, and that's my story. To be here tonight, I'm grateful, I'm honored and I also own it. I've put in a lot of miles and hard work, and I'm proud of the work I've done so far in my career. Hopefully, it just took a long time to get to the starting line and we're off to the races."

Having recorded for other Nashville-based record labels, he credited Big Machine Records for getting radio airplay for his music.

"It took a long time to get the right recipe for me at the label side of things, to find somebody who was willing to let me be myself and willing to put their money where their mouth is as far as doing what it takes to get an artist heard," he said.

Ingram also acknowledged he had also stopped viewing his artistry as being "precious" and adopted an open mind about being able to create radio-friendly music that still maintains a high level of substance.

"I realized that I'm just myself," he said. "When I open my mouth, it sounds like Jack Ingram. Once I accepted that, it opened up a lot of avenues for me to get heard down the mainstream pike. It wasn't that hard of a transition. I don't think I've changed that much. I think I just opened myself to some opportunities I might have scoffed at before. And now I say, 'Yes. Let's give it a shot and see what happens.'"

Ingram said he has benefited from years of encouragement of fans and those in the music industry and media, but there are still moments that provide a reality check.

"It seems glamorous," he said. "And you think when you have a No. 1 hit, the world changes. But the fact is that it doesn't. We've shown up in Wisconsin sometimes and there's 37 people to see us play on a Saturday night. And it's a punch in the gut. You feel like your world is about to change ... and it's not the case. It still takes a lot of hard work, and often times it feels like you're pushing a train uphill."

Ingram says he never had any huge career expectations when he started playing music and writing songs.

"I didn't choose to do this necessarily," he explained. "I played music and it hit me like a bug that just won't go away. I started out playing the corner of a sports bar with no amplification or anything. Just my guitar. And I made money that night. They gave me a free meal and free beer and a couple of bucks, and I walked home better off than I was when I walked into the bar.

"Through all the tricks and turns that this business will take you on -- and it will -- I know at the very end of it, I have something they can't take away from me. I can walk into a bar and tell some stories and sing some songs and make what I need to make to move on down the road."

MAY 19 >> JACK WINS "TOP NEW MALE VOCALIST" AWARD.

POSTED BY CHELSEA |

Well, last night was the Academy of Country Music awards! And guess what? Jack won the award for "Top New Male Vocalist." I am so glad that he won this... He deserved it more than any of the other nominees in the category, and he sure has worked a lot harder to get where he is now. Congratulations, Jack!!

I wish I could find a video of Jack's speech when he accepted the award... it was absolutely amazing!!

I'm working on adding pictures of Jack from the ACMs to the gallery, so hopefully most of those will be up by the end of the day. ^-^