Ingram continued to tour Texas and received interest from Sony imprint Lucky Dog.  Having been burnt twice, Ingram was understandably hesitant.  But with a passion for his music and the fact that Lucky Dog was also home to fellow Texans and friends Charlie and Bruce Robison, Ingram took the leap.  To capitalize on the overlapping fanbase, Lucky Dog released the live album Unleashed Live featuring the three artists live at Gruene Hall.  His first Lucky Dog studio release, Hey You, featured the single “How Many Days” which peaked at #64.  In 2002, Ingram released his final Lucky Dog album, Electric and parted with the label.  Between then and now, Ingram released three live albums, one in the popular Live from Billy Bob’s Texas series and two on his on RAM label (Happy Happy – Live at Gruene Hall and Acoustic Motel)In late 2005, Ingram took the label plunge again and signed on with a new label, the Toby Keith funded Big Machine Records.  January 2006 saw the release of Live…Wherever You Are which was a repackaging of Happy Happy with the addition of “Never Knocked Me Down” from the 2005 CMT Outlaws concert and two knew studio cuts.  The first single “Wherever You Are” entered the charts at # 40 and has continued its steady climb ever since.This week, “Wherever You Are” is number #9, congratulations.Thanks.Will the follow-up single come from this album or from a new album?Yeah, it will be “Love You” from this album.With having a #9 single, do you feel any pressure, for the next album, to maybe write with other writers or to pick songs from other writers more so than you have in the past?Um… I’m not sure it would be considered another, um, more of a pressure, it’s more of a… I see what’s going on as a big opportunity.  Something that I have been trying to get the whole time, you know, I’ve been trying to achieve some type of mainstream success while, you know, keeping my integrity about myself and my music, for the entire time I’ve been doing this, so now that I’ve kind of, we’ve achieved that this time around, I want to keep it going, but it’s not any outside pressure, it’s the same inside pressure I’ve always put on my own, on my self.Your next album will probably be coming out this year?Right.And it will be a studio album.  Is it based on or are any of the tracks from the album you had completed in 2004 and were looking at releasing in 2005?Absolutely.  There’s going to be some stuff that I did even before I got signed.  The bulk of the record will be that.  And then I’ve been doing some recording over the past six months that are going to, you know I’m going to take all twenty songs or something and make a record out of it.Have you been producing that or are you working with any producers?With producing, I’m going to do some more tracks with the guy that produced ‘Wherever You Are,” his name’s Jeremy Stover and then I did a bunch of tracks with Doug Lancio who is the band leader and producer for Patti Griffin.  So it’s going to be some of that stuff, there’s not going to be one producer on the record.How did the opportunity to open for Sheryl Crow come about?Well, you know, I think our agents, you know, kind of one of those deals where my people talked to her people (laughs), you know?  As funny as that may sound.  They kind of… She’s going out on tour, so they pitched me to go out and open for her, and they accepted.That will be a great opportunity to, maybe get in front of a few people, I mean she is kind of touching in to the Country audience now, but she still has a wide Pop/Rock fanbase, really, so it will be a great opportunity to get your stuff out there.Absolutely, especially since we are just kind of on the other side of the fence from each other, she’s a rocker that leans toward Country and obviously what I do is Country that has a rock edge to it as well.  I think it’s going to match up really well.The tour has all been re-scheduled for June and July, will it be going beyond that or just those twelve dates there?The dates in June and run into July with her and then the rest of the summer is basically going to be hooked… We got offered 35 dates for Brooks & Dunn’s US tour, we’re going to open that show the rest of the summer.  And then in the Fall, we’re going to open for Gary Allen out in the Western United States.  So it’s going to be a year of opening slots for me.  It’s going to be nice.Is it different for you to approach an opening slot whereas you are more used to being the headliner as you go out in Texas and those areas?Yeah, you kind of have to, um, I mean, I’m not going to change too many things, but obviously there is a bit of an introduction that need to be established with a new audience, you know.  I’ve done it before and it just feels like we’re playing a town for the first time, that’s how I kind of approach it.  Where I’m here to do something, I’m here to turn people on to what I’m doing and then hopefully they’ll come back.On the set list, will you be mainly playing stuff off the new album, which of course is a lot of your “greatest hits,” so to speak…One good thing for me is that I get to… I’ll be playing basically stuff from this record, which it is, like you said, it’s almost like a greatest hits record (laughs) for a guy who’s never had any hits.  All of the songs I’ve kind of established as my “hits” over the last few years, so, I’ll probably stick with mostly that, you know.Are you throwing in any new stuff from the upcoming album?There’ll be one or two brand new songs, yeah.  For Sheryl Crow, and for all of these opening slots, you only get about 40 minutes at the most, that’s about 8 or 9 songs for me.  And I’ll cover the record, maybe cover 1 or 2 brand new ones.And you are doing a few dates, not very many, with Charlie Robison.  Is that kind of like old times?Should be fun, yeah.  We haven’t got to go out playing together for a few years, so it will be nice, nice to hook up with the old gang.Do you feel like there is a drawback to the label “Texas Music?”Well, yeah, of course, not the music itself….Right, but the labeling …If everyone knew exactly what that term meant, there’d be no drawback to it.  You know, I mean, it’s talking about the music having a distinct style, it’s the same as calling it alt-country or roots rock or whatever.  For people who are music fans it’s become known as a term of a certain style.  But for people who don’t understand it, it’s a drawback because it sets you in a geographic area, you know, kind of plants you there.  And by no means is this music made for Texans.  So, you know, it’s kind of a yes and no.  It’s kind of a drawback, but there’s also been a lot of positives that have come from being able to identify with an entire group of fans who know what that is and support that music incredibly well.Do you think it’s allowed some radio programmers to leave some of it off because they can say “it’s Texas music, not the Country we play.”  Like for example in the early days of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe and Flatt and Scruggs, they didn’t really like the term “Bluegrass” because they felt they were doing Country.  But the radio programmers took the opportunity to, after a few years to say, “That’s bluegrass, not Country, so we’re not playing it.”That’s one of the funny parts about being in this business, being in any business really where you have to choose, pick and choose what you are going to do.  You are always looking for a reason not to do something ‘cause there’s so much coming at you, if you can weed out things for certain reasons, “Well, that’s Texas Country, we don’t play that.”  Yeah, that’s definitely been a drawback and that has been one of the biggest challenges in getting mainstream acceptance, in getting programmers to play my stuff, is to say “wait a minute, listen to the record.  Is that sound like what you are calling Texas Country or does that have a few elements that are just a little bit different than what you are playing already?”So yeah, that was something we had to fight through and have had to fight through for years.  Hopefully, and I never say that battles over, but I think we have broken down a few of the barriers this time with “Wherever You Are.”#9 single, that’s a pretty good indication that some of those barriers are probably falling.(Laughs) Now we just have to keep those barriers down.Yeah, well the single has been doing a steady climb since its debut, so.  And you have, arguably one of the best radio pitchmen (Big Machine label head Scott Borchetta) in your corner, so that’s beneficial.Absolutely, without a doubt.But the music speaks for itself and that has kept it up.  Has the album been continuing to sell well as the single climbs?Yeah, we’re selling about 1500 units a week.  Which for a live record… I think the live thing, that’s historically tough to sell.  Which is why we didn’t really put too many expectations on how many of these we were going to sell.  What we wanted to do was introduce ourselves, or re-introduce ourselves, however it fits, to the format of Country and then come immediately with a studio record, which is what we are going to do.As a fan it is good to hear that the record company had a strategy that didn’t include a magic number.  It seems that so often a label puts out an artist that no one knows and when they don’t sell that magic number, they are gone.  So it’s good to hear they didn’t have a number set and say “well if you don’t hit this, it’s back to Texas.”(Laughs) You got it man, I’m glad for that as well, I really am.  I got in bed with these guys because I felt like that was going to be their approach.  So they are staying true to their word.Have you felt any backlash maybe, for lack of a better term, or accusations of selling out just because of dealing with Nashville and guys like Toby Keith, people who they perceive as stars who they might not like their music, so what’s Jack doing getting tangled up in the mess?Well, you know, I haven’t felt it, but I know it’s out there, I mean it has to be, ‘cause any time I have ever seen anybody change the playing field they’re on, there’s always that.  I’m not sure if that there is a fear that I am going to sell-out or if there’s a perception that I am going to, if I have.  I’m sure it’s there, I’ve seen it happen before and I just… all I really care about as far as that goes is making sure that I do my job good enough to where I stay at this level we’ve achieved right here long enough for those people who say that to really be forced to take a good look at what I’m doing.Right.And you know, it’s just human nature, I don’t know what there is about it but I’m sure when Neil Young was playing 200 seat clubs, when he was just getting started, all of a sudden he’s playing 2000, 5000, 10000, 20000 seaters there were people who go “aw man, I liked him better when he was doing this.”  That’s fine, that’s cool, but I guarantee you those people are fans of Neil Young today.You know what I mean? So I just decided a while back that that wasn’t going to be my concern, I know the kind of music I want to make, I know the kind of music I’ve made and am going to make and everybody else can have their opinion.And if they want to come along for the ride, then they are welcome to it.Absolutely man!  ‘Cause I know that I didn’t get in this to make “pop,” slick music, that’s not what gets me off, that’s not what inspires me, so I just know that’s not what I’m going to do.  All the other things, that just comes and goes, man.And then there’s also that group of fans that exists in every form of music that are like, “Everyone in the world didn’t know Jack Ingram, but I did.  And now a lot more people do, so either he has to not be cool or I have to not be cool and I’m going to choose him.”(Laughs) Right, man! I totally get that! I’m lucky I do, I’m glad I do, because that is a painful process for an artist to go through, where they feel like people have turned against them.  But I am a big enough fan of music that I know I’ve felt that way before myself and it wasn’t necessarily true. And with your radio show, you prove you don’t have boundaries in your own musical tastes, so if you’re knocking a few boundaries down here and there, that’s kind of to be expected, that’s where your roots are, that’s where you are coming from.  So the thing that’s cool about your radio show is it’s like the DJs used to be.  You play what you pick up, “hey, I like this, I’m going to play it” it’s not a computer generated list of songs someone has to play.Exactly man.  If it wasn’t for that, what’s the point, for me any way, ‘cause it’s not my day job, it’s just fun, you know?With a top ten single, the album is selling really well, some great opening slots, people might look at you and think now he is hitting a success point.  I read a quote from John Mellencamp recently, from an interview from around 1983, around the time American Fool, people said “Man, John, you are a success!’ and his reply was “I’m only a success if I can do this five of six more times.”  Is that kind of the way you look at it?That’s funny, man, I always knew I liked him.  The first successful moment you have, or that I had, that most people have, is when you realize that this is what you are doing for a living.  And it’s not going to be taken away from you for just because, whatever.  You’re doing it, you’ve made a certain name for yourself to where you are making a living.  That’s a moment where you go, alright, cool, things are okay.  And I feel like I did that years ago, you know?  And now, he is right, it’s like now the game… this is a whole other chapter, now let’s get this right, we did it once, but the idea is to do it until you’ve had your full time at bat.  This is just our first swing.So let’s say after that time at bat’s over, way in the future, what do you see yourself doing then? Producing, going into label work, or just retiring on a farm somewhere?You know, I don’t think I’m ever, you know, who knows, never say never and I have no idea what the future holds, but I’ve never seen myself as one who is just going to retire.  I love music, man, I just love it.  I love the way it affects me as a fan and as a musician so I can’t imagine… You know I produced a record on a guy named Josh Owen which is going to come out in Texas and I intend on doing some more production work.  I know that I know this business fairly well at this point and I know that I could do some people some good, you know?  So, I’ll just see what happens, but I’m going to be in the music business.Will there be a Real American Music Festival this year?We’re talking about that, this will be number four and we’re trying to figure out how we are going to do it with the Brooks & Dunn tour, we’ll be out with Brooks & Dunn on the weekend that we traditionally do that RAMFest.  So if it’s done this year it’s going to have to be a different date, but I’m planning on doing it.Who’s in your CD player right now?Oh man, it’s funny you ask, I just imported into my iTunes last night and I put Kathleen Edwards in there.  I put Rhett Miller’s new one The Believer in there and I put Roy Orbison the Essential series in there.  So I’m kind of all over the map.  I just got done reading a book by this guy named Paul Zollo called Conversations with Tom Petty, which is really cool, that kind of got me on another Tom Petty kick, as if I need to be on another one.  (laughs) So that’s what’s in there right now.(laughs)Maybe next summer you can tour with Tom Petty?(laughs) Man, you know what? That would be a dream come true and, man, these days I’m not ruling out dreams coming true.