JON INGELS
By
Mitch Morrill
A while back, I mentioned to Jenny and Steve of FCLM that an occasional review of the local music scene might be a good addition to their site. They said “sounds like a good idea.” I noticed Jon Ingels was playing at the Roy Pitz Stube and thought it would be a good starting point. I caught a little bit of Jon’s solo a couple months ago at the Stube and liked what I heard.
When
I entered the packed Stube on Thursday 3/10, Jon Ingels had just started in on
his first set. I said hey to a few friends, as I had been away for a bit, but I
had an ear on Jon and wanted to get front and center to give my full attention.
Jon spent some time playing with the Boro Boogie Pickers. Now, in addition to
his solo, he plays with Big Whiskey, Slackwater 4, and Low Down Grasskickers.
As I settled in, Jon was in the middle of a piece where he had laid down a
rhythm track with the 6 string acoustic via a looping pedal. Next he grabbed
the Dobro and laid lead over his rhythm tract. Jon’s passion for the Dobro is
quite obvious and he’s getting quite good at it. He followed with a mix of
country-styled covers and originals. I could hear shades of Steve Earle, one of
my favorites, in his vocal delivery. The crowd was quite attentive and offered
generous rounds of applause in return after each song.
A
couple songs later, Steve and Jenny from FCLM popped in and sat down at my
table. I came to realize they are big Jon Ingels fans, so we saved the greetings
till the break. One of Jenny’s favorite covers that Jon does is Ray Wylie
Hubbard’s “Snake Farm”. Toward the end of the set, she started yelling for it
and, of course, he obliged. Halfway through the first chorus, I found myself
singing “snake farm” with several others. Nice finish to the first set.
I spoke to Jon at the break and mentioned I was doing a review of his show for the FCLM site. I told him I heard a little Steve Earle in some of his songs and asked if he would mind if I mentioned that in the article. He said “No, Steve is one of my mentors.” I asked him if he’d been down to Beard guitars in Hagerstown and he had. Paul Beard makes world class resonator guitars coveted by some of the greatest players out there. Jon said he was trying out some dobro style guitars and they asked him if he wanted to play Jerry Douglas’ guitar. Jon said “Well yeah!” They took a picture of Jon playing it and sent it to Jerry and said “Jerry, we accidentally sold your guitar to this guy.” Now that’s a cool story.
Jon’s second set was equally entertaining and chocked full of various selections of country, rock, and Grateful Dead style feels. Truly a good show. I’m sure I’ll be back.
Jon had graciously given me
his 2015 CD, A Nomad’s Manifesto, to check out, so I gave it a listen. In
reading the credits on the CD, I noticed Jon played all the instruments
excluding drums on seven of the twelve cuts. In the second cut, Borders, there
are two different guitar set ups playing lead. One is Garcia-esque in nature.
The other has a Steven Stills vibe to it. In several of the songs, Jon has two
guitar leads going simultaneously and miraculously they don’t step on each
other. In The Devil’s Sky, Jon’s harmony vocals take on a Mick Jagger quality
that attest to the diverse nature of his talents. In Can You Hear Me Now, again
the guitar tracks are top notch. Both rhythm and lead are tonally right on. In
cut six Old Minds Young Hearts, the jazz feel is a refreshing change. I like
the guitars in this song although the one seems a little over driven, but maybe
it was intended for effect. Blue Rock Skyline has a John Prine quality to it as
Jon pulls out the acoustic guitar. Again the tone is very good. Track eight,
White Lightning Tooth and Nail, has it all. Tremolo, banjo, two different
guitar set-ups and that train beat riding the snare. Follow the ill-fated story
of Jim, Debra Lee and Darlene as they end up south of the border in Mexico. I
like this one and would love to cover it. I’ll have to ask Jon. Cut nine, Down
in the Dogwoods, an old gospel-styled bluegrass tune, brings the mandolin to
the foreground and allows Jon to show more of his versatility . Track eleven, Growing
into the Unknown, a Dead styled Bo Diddley vamp has a really good romp to it.
Yet another I wouldn’t mind covering. The last cut, Too Old to Die Young, is an
anthem style slow rocker with a fine guitar lead and portions of guitar duo. A
good finish to a successful CD.We’ve become accustomed to listening to CDs generated by corporate studios with highly technical equipment that smooth out the rough timing edges and put everything in tune. I find it refreshing to hear natural and not overly processed recordings. There are no credits as to a recording studio, so I assume Jon has self-produced this in house.
I know Jon Ingels has generated previous offerings. I think I’ll pull up his site and eyeball what's on there. www.joningelsmusic.com By the way, I see Jon is performing at the Roy Pitz Stube again on May 12. You should stop in!
