Born 56 Years Ago Today in the Lone Star State, the Country Star Who Went From Dallas Honky-Tonks to No. 1 on the Charts

On this day (November 15) in 1970, Jack Owen Ingram was born in The Woodlands, Texas. He got his start on the Fort Worth bar scene before opening for Mark Chesnutt in the early 1990s. Releasing his self-titled debut album in 1995, he gained a sizable following in his home state, but didn’t reach the national spotlight until a decade later, when his single “Wherever You Are” climbed to the top of the Hot Country Songs chart and notched the newly-founded Big Machine Records their first chart-topper.

Since then, Ingram has sent six more songs to the country music Top 40, including a 2006 cover of Hinder’s post-grunge breakthrough hit “Lips of An Angel”. Today, we’re taking a look at his life and career in honor of his 56th birthday.

Jack Ingram Started Performing in College

While some musical artists discover their calling as children, Jack Ingram didn’t find his until college. He started writing and performing songs while majoring in psychology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he was also a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.

He made his debut singing at a bar near the Texas Christian University campus in Fort Worth, owned by his friend John Clay Wolfe. Ingram played the bar and roadhouse circuit from Dallas to Houston, touring Texas with his Beat Up Ford band and opening for Merle Haggard and Mark Chesnutt.

Grounding his style in traditional country with a contemporary edge, Ingram independently released his self-titled debut album in 1993.

It wasn’t until his third album, 1997’s Livin’ or Dyin’, that Ingram saw his first charting single with “Flutter”, which reached No. 51. His fifth album, 2002’s Electric, cracked the U.S. Country Top 40 despite failing to produce a single charting song.

A Breakthrough More Than 10 Years in the Making

Jack Ingram’s first taste of mainstream success didn’t arrive until late 2005 with “Wherever You Are”. It was his first single after signing with the independent label Big Machine Records, formed in September 2005 by Scott Borchetta.

Written by Steve Bogard and Jeremy Stover, “Wherever You Are” spent one week atop the Hot Country Songs chart in May 2006. And for Ingram, it was a long time coming.

“Around 2001, I was frustrated. Al Moss, a record promotion guy, told me, ‘Jack, you’re in line and you’ve been in line. Just be patient. Your time’s coming,’” he told Austin Monthly in 2015. “A couple of years later, I got the correct record deal, and the pieces fell into place. I called him up and said, “You sonuvab—-, you were right.”

In 2008, Ingram received Top New Male Vocalist honors from the Academy of Country Music despite being a nearly two-decade veteran of the genre. He released three solo albums with Big Machine Records before amicably parting ways with the label in 2011.

[RELATED: Miranda Lambert Wrote This 2017 Song in Tribute to an Early Kenny Chesney Hit]

Jack Ingram co-wrote Miranda Lambert’s 2017 single “Tin Man” with Lambert and Jon Randall. Four years later, the Texan trio reunited on The Marfa Tapes. The album reached the U.S. country Top 10 and snagged a Grammy nod for Best Country Album.

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