Livin' or Dyin'

Jack Ingram plays catchy twang pop and country rock without sounding like a ‘70s throwback or an alt-country hopeful. His honky-tonk approximations make Livin’ or Dyin’ sound wonderfully rootsy, and the songs play with a timelessness that you just don’t hear in the albums of most late ‘90s new traditional hat acts. “Nothin’ Wrong With That” opens playfully using simple chords and a sing-along melody as Ingram’s textured voice muses on a bumpkin-themed romance. Things get a little more rockabilly on “Big Time” — a bouncy ditty that boasts some impressive lap steel licks by Tommy Hannum. Ingram also takes on some tasteful covers: Guy Clark’s “Rita Ballou” retains Texan tones while managing to sound like an Ingram original, and Jimmy Dale Gilmore’s “Dallas” gets a bit of the western swing treatment. But his originals are the gems — the moving “She Does Her Best” hints at the narrative crafting balladeer Ingram would become on later recordings.