Country singer Jack Ingram hopes to break record for most interviews while promoting new album

Country singer hopes to break interview record

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jack Ingram better be in a chatty mood come Tuesday.

The country singer will try to break the world record for most radio interviews in 24 hours as part of a promotional blitz for his new album, “Big Dreams & High Hopes.”

Communications gurus TJ Walker and Jess Todtfeld hold the current record after speaking to 96 different radio stations in 24 hours last June, said Guinness World Records spokeswoman Jamie Panas.

The previous record was 72 by Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump of the rock group Fall Out Boy.

Ingram is shooting for 225 interviews in 24 hours starting 8 a.m. Tuesday.

“When I first went to No. 1 with ‘Wherever You Are,’ I spent a week on the phone every morning for four or five hours at a time talking to radio stations,” Ingram said recently. “It’s a fantastic way to travel the country without going anywhere.”

It’s also a good way to spread the word about his ninth studio album, whose first single, “Barefoot and Crazy,” is No. 11 on the Billboard country chart.

The 38-year-old Houston native certainly has the persistence to shatter the record. He knocked around Texas and Nashville for years before finding mainstream success with “Wherever You Are” in 2005. He’s since had five more singles reach the Top 20 including his latest.

“I always pride myself on having a strong work ethic. I’m no James Brown, but I do work hard out there,” he said.

In his sprint for the world record, Ingram will concentrate on country radio stations. He’ll discuss his music, his life on the road and just about anything else anyone wants to talk about in a succession of brief interviews.

And if he starts running out of steam?

“Caffeine is probably going to be my friend,” he said.

On the Net:

www.jackingram.net/