Live Wherever You Are (CD - 2006)

Personnel: Brent Mason (guitar); Steven Sheehan, Biff Watson (acoustic guitar); Troy Lancaster (electric guitar, sitar); Jens Pinkernell (electric guitar); Larry Franklin (mandolin); Joe Spivey (fiddle); Michael Rojas (piano, organ); Bukka Allen (piano); Matt Rollings (keyboards); Tommy Harden, Paul Leim, Pete Coatney (drums); Danielle Peck, Russell Terrell (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Jamie Tate; Jared Tuten.

Recording information: The Love Shack, Nashville, TN (2005); The Rukkus Room, Nashville, TN (2005).

Photographers: Gary Miller; Cambria Lyn Harkey; Carl Dunn; Tony Baker & His Orchestra.

One of the first releases on Toby Keith's Big Machine imprint, 2006's LIVE WHEREVER YOU ARE presents Texan country-rocker Jack Ingram in concert on his home turf. Backed by his Beat Up Ford Band, Ingram charges through raucous tunes (the witty "How Many Days" and the hot-rod narrative "Mustang Burn"), but also slows things down on a number of songs, most notably the wistful "Biloxi" and the gentle "Good Night Moon."

As on past outings, Ingram often sounds like a more accessible (read: less political) version of Steve Earle, with his slightly raspy voice and charming honky-tonk swagger evident throughout the set. WHEREVER YOU ARE also includes two studio tracks, the uplifting title song and the stomping "Love You," making the disc more than just a pure concert document. Given the strong performances and the added push from Keith's label, it's likely that this album will win Ingram the hard-fought legion of new fans he deserves.

Jack Ingram's Live Wherever You Are is a strange little album. It is live for the most part, though its title track was recorded in the studio, and "Never Knocked Me Down," comes from a CMT Outlawsbroadcast. The rest is taken from various stages and places along the road, and the record sounds like that -- too chopped up. The editing process tried hard to capture the flow of a single gig, but it still comes across as a reflection of its title. There's nothing wrong with this per se, but as it is, Live Wherever You Are feels more like a stopgap between studio albums just to have something on the market. There are some great performances here, such as his read of "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line," and "Goodnight Moon," and some silly ones, too, that appear to be novelty crowd-pleasers like "Happy Happy (Country Country)." Ingram can be a truly electrifying performer, but that has never been captured on his studio recordings. Perhaps he wants to keep those two parts of his vocation separate. But the bottom line is, that when a set is constructed like this one is, so abruptly in feel without normal transitions, something gets lost; and it feels like that here. Some songs really burn, while others feel out of place in line. ~ Thom Jurek minimize