It's been a whirlwind 2006 for Jack Ingram. He's had three singles on the Billboard Country Chart, including "Wherever You Are," his first #1 hit.
Then there were the summer tours with Sheryl Crow and Brooks & Dunn, nearly 200 headlining shows, and a huge homecoming show at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Somewhere in between, he made three videos, hosted two country music specials for CMT and found time to cut a duet with Willie Nelson. All of this from a 34-year-old who'd be the first to admit that just a few years ago it looked like country music industry had left him for dead.
They say you never forget your first time. And this is the question Jack Ingram's been waiting forever to be able to answer: What exactly does a #1 single feel like?
"It feels just like you'd think it would. It feels fantastic. It feels like all the things you worked for, you finally have something tangible to grab. It worked. And just like with any successful venture, I took a moment - a long moment, a long pause and breath - and then you have to move on and try to get another one," Ingram said.
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Musician of the Year
Jack Ingram has had three singles on the Billboard Country Chart this year, including a #1 hit.
 
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Ten years and three record labels into his career, "Wherever You Are" spent 32 weeks crawling up the Billboard Country singles chart, all the way to the top slot. For Ingram, the song itself and its success would reaffirm his faith in the power of persistence and perseverance.
“I don't think I've ever been able to connect to tape the same energy I put forth in a live setting. I think this time it happened. The storyline of the song is something I've writing about for years - trying desperately to connect, to reach into someone and grab their heart, doing whatever you have to to get there. I think somehow after the years on the road and the time I've spent trying to capture that musically, it finally connected and came together to work in one song - in three and a half minutes,” he said.
Ingram followed those three and half minutes with another hit, "Love You." And now his version of Hinder's "Lips of Angel" is moving up the chart at a pace faster than either single before it. Before long, Ingram may well have two #1 hits under his belt. And while nothing would make him happier, he said he's looking at the big picture - paying closer attention to his career than he is the minutia of the charts.
"At the end of the day, it's still about trying to do good work, to do better work. That's the road I want to look down. The #1's will hopefully come. That's part of the business. But to make good music and do good work is the original goal. And it still very much is," he said.
Ingram's next record, This Is It, is due for release March 27. Also of note: while on tour with Crow this summer, Ingram joined her onstage each night to perform her hit, “If It Makes You Happy.” As of last week, the duet is available for download exclusively through iTunes. All proceeds will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
