I’ve been around of while. I’ve seen and heard hundreds, if not thousands, of live music performances. Everything from my first concert in 1965 for The Righteous Brothers in St. Louis to Loretta Lynn at the Ryman Auditorium inNashville, Tennessee. I’ve been present in locked fado clubs in Lisbon and Porto, Portugal witnessing some of the most profound and emotional music ever performed. I’ve sat mere steps away from Guy Clark and Verlon Thompson, Rodney Crowell, Bonnie Raitt, John Fullbright, Steve Earle…. On and on. I know myself to have been in the presence of folks at the pinnacle of so-called American Roots Music.
I felt no less inspired and awed on a Monday night in KansasCity with about 50 other folks listening to an 18 year old lyrical master from Ft. Worth Texas and his partner in music for the evening, Abe Partridge of Mobile, Alabama.
Jack started performing original songs at age nine and hasshared the stage with artists like Ray Wylie Hubbard and Wynonna Judd. His mature and heart wrenching lyrics, soulful voice and master guitar skills pay homage to country music and blues influences. Inspired by legends like Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and Johnny Cash, yet with a voice and point of view all his own, Jack is on track to have career thatwill only mature and flourish in the coming decades. Do not miss an opportunity to see and support him.
We had a bumpy start trying to make the phone connection for this conversation but we finally got it together. Enjoy my first interview with Jack Barksdale…. I hope to speak to him again someday and wish him nothing but the best.
