Jack Ingram boasts 'Big Dreams & High Hopes' as he preps for Guinness record

July 21, 12:21 AMCountry Music ExaminerLisa L. Rollins

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Jack Ingram's got his hopes pinned on success for his
latest CD. (Photo: Big Machine Records).

Topping his career success to date, no doubt, will be  challenging for Texas-born country artist Jack Ingram.

Success is sweet, though, and never taken for granted by the 2008 Academy of Country Music's Top New Male Vocalist prize. It was a trophy he scored following years and years of hard work in the dance halls and honky-tonks of his home state and beyond--never mind that he also toiled long and hard to make his career click with the powers that be on Music Row.

Most recently, he's been dubbed "The Marathon Man" in People's "Country's Hottest Guys" issue of June 17, 2009, and before long, Ingram will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for "Most Consecutive Radio Interviews In A 24-Hour Period" beginning in the wee hours of Aug. 25. (It's a record that's currently held by Fall Out Boy player Pete Wentz, hubby to Ashlee Simpson, for those who are curious.)

Before he embarks on his Guinness attempt, however, Ingram's most focused on his brand-new CD, Big Dreams & High Hopes, which is an autobiographical sentiment in and of itself.

"I'm proud of this album like crazy," says Ingram, referring to the 11-track project. "We started to put it out a few times earlier this year, but then I'd hold everything up and go back to the studio and tweak this or mess with that, but now I'm finally ready. There are a few rowdy barroom sing-a-longs on there and also a few songs that are meant to be listened to when you're all alone...lots of long days and fun nights were spent making this one."

The first single from the CD, which is the follow-up to his This Is It! album for Big Machine Records, is "Barefoot and Crazy," a lead-off tune that's already rocking its way toward Billboard's Top 10. This week alone, in fact, the tune jumped four places to No. 13, with kudos from USA Today, which declared it "one of country music's hottest summertime singles."

With some critics placing early bets that Big Dreams & High Hopes will be the record to take his career to the proverbial "next level," Ingram's simply pleased as punch to be placed among an elite group of country artists. Artists, that is, who can call on the cream of the crop to help create his latest project, which is just what the Houston native's done for his latest CD that's due out Aug. 25.

One glance at the song list of the new CD speaks volumes, with top-tier tunesmiths, producers and collaborators such as Americana heroine Patty Griffin, who sits in on the Ingram-penned "Seeing Stars," and mainstream country music chart-topper Dierks Bentley, who drops by for the honky-tonk party anthem,  "Barbie Doll," with Little Big Town, Randy Houser, James Otto and The Lost Trailers (also known as The Little Big Lost Beat-Up Ford Funky Times Freedom Choir) contributing gang vocals.

Additionally, Jay Joyce, Jeremy Stover, Doug Lancio and Radney Foster, another Lone Star favorite, all get production credits on the CD, which also lists co-writers Jeffrey Steele, Darrell Brown, Dallas Davidson, Gary Burr and Tom Shapiro among its cast of creative stars.

The ever-hardworking Ingram says he's dedicated the disc to "anyone who who has ever dared to dream big dreams and have high hopes." And while success may seem to be in his hip pocket, the blond songster insists he's taking nothing for granted, choosing instead to follow the only road he knows when it comes to life and music--one that will "keep on, keepin' on."

Big Dreams & High Hopes Track List:

1. "Free" (Jay Knowles, Trent Summar)
2. "Barefoot And Crazy" (Ben Hayslip, Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson)
3. "That's A Man (Ed Hill, Steven Dale Jones, Mark D. Sanders)
4. "Seeing Stars," featuring Patty Griffin (Jack Ingram, Chris Tompkins)
5. "Not Giving Up On Me" (Jack Ingram, Jeffrey Steele, Tom Hambridge)
6. "Barbie Doll," featuring Dierks Bentley (Jack Ingram, Todd Snider)
7. "Big Dreams & High Hopes" (Gary Burr, Jack Ingram)
8. "Heartache" (Jack Ingram, Radney Foster, Darrell Brown)
9. "Man In Your Life" (Jack Ingram, Radney Foster)
10. "King Of Wasted Time" (Tom Shapiro, Tony Martin, Jim Collins)
11. "in The Corner" (Jack Ingram)

For more info: To view Jack Ingram's music clip for his latest single, "Barefoot and Crazy," simply scroll below. Official Jack Ingram Web site, Jack Ingram on MySpace, Jack Ingram on Twitter, Jack Ingram on Facebook