By DAN ARMONAITIS
A few weeks ago, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Jason Ringenberg was escorted through the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum by former Spartanburg resident Peter Cooper, who now serves as its senior director, producer and writer.
Ringenberg was visiting with his wife and daughters, who were given the opportunity to get an exclusive look at a new exhibit in the museum dedicated to Jason & the Scorchers, the seminal punk-country band that he formed in 1981.
Jason & the Scorchers are represented in a timeline section of the mid-1980s called “Guitars, Cadillacs: Country’s New Wave,” in which the band shares space with such luminaries as Randy Travis, Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam and Rosanne Cash.
“It’s a heck of an honor. I think we had more space in our exhibit than Dolly Parton does,” Ringenberg said with a chuckle. “I’m still stunned that it happened. And it was great having Peter show us around. He took us around the whole Hall and told us all these backstories about a lot of their exhibits. It was just a great experience.”
Ringenberg, who will give a solo performance on Thursday, Feb. 6 at The Radio Room in Greenville, said Cooper has “been the river that runs through much of the last five years of my life.”
In fact, in the liner notes to his most recent solo album, “Stand Tall,” which was released nearly a year ago, Ringenberg described how the songs were largely inspired by the time he spent in June 2017 at Sequoia National Park as part of its artist residency program.
“At night, I read Peter Cooper’s book ‘Johnny’s Cash and Charley’s Pride’ by candlelight since the cabin had no night power,” Ringenberg wrote. “As Dylan said in ‘Tangled Up in Blue,’ ‘every one of those words rang true and glowed like burning coal.’ I began to own within myself that I could and should make new music.”
Ringenberg’s first solo album since 2004, “Stand Tall” is filled with a riotous mix of rock ‘n’ roll-fueled country and folk songs that reveal an artist at the top of his game. That the Illinois-born Ringenberg was inspired to write one of the standout tracks, “God Bless the Ramones,” while sitting underneath the Charles Young Sequoia, which is named after the first African-American national park head ranger and U.S. Army colonel, is a testament to his unique artistic vision.
“It almost sounds cliché, but it was so perfect,” Ringenberg said of the Sequoia National Park artist residency that inspired the new album. “I had pretty high expectations going in, and it fulfilled every one of them. … It’s such an amazing place, and something just happened. Everything clicked perfectly, and I think it’s the best songwriting I’ve done since ‘Fervor’ and ‘Lost and Found.'”
The latter reference is to a pair of classic early to mid 1980s recordings by Jason & the Scorchers that put the band on a path that eventually led to a Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance by the Americana Music Association in 2008.
As for Cooper, Ringenberg said, “Me and Peter have always connected from the very get-go. From the first time meeting him when he first moved to Nashville and became the writer for The Tennessean (newspaper), I noticed there was something different about him. I’ve always been written about in the press no matter what I do and am thankful for that, but it was different with Peter.
“There was something about his writing and the way he connected with his audience and the way he connected with the artists that was pretty unique, and the more time I spent with him, the more I enjoyed it.”
Notably, in 2005, Cooper brought Ringenberg to the Nu-Way Restaurant and Lounge in Spartanburg for a show that’s remembered fondly by those fortunate enough to have witnessed it. Accompanied that late fall evening by Cooper on bass, Baker Maultsby on drums and Matthew Knights on lead guitar, Ringenberg gave an electrifying performance that even included a Chuck Berry-esque duck walk across the Nu-Way bar.
“I remember thinking, ‘oh wow, this whole Greenville-Spartanburg thing is really cool,'” Ringenberg said. “And as I’ve gotten to know Peter, I’ve learned more about that area through reading his book, ‘Hub City Music Makers.’ I love playing there.”
Ringenberg’s most recent Upstate performance was last July when he appeared at The Spinning Jenny in Greer with Chuck Mead and Jim Lauderdale as part of their Cosmic Honky Tonk Revue tour.
Of course, for many of his fans, Ringenberg is also known for the string of high-quality children’s albums he’s made since 2003 as his alter ago Farmer Jason.
“In the beginning it was my fans who brought their kids or their grandkids to the shows, and now some of those kids are now (young adults) and they’ll come up to me say, ‘I remember hearing ‘The Doggie Dance’ when I was five years old and now I love your new record,'” Ringenberg said with a laugh. “It’s the dangest thing, but it’s wonderful to see that kind of connection when they make that jump from Farmer Jason to Jason Ringenberg.”
While his show at The Radio Room is officially a solo acoustic gig, Ringenberg is quick to point out that it’ll pack plenty of punch.
“It’s not like singer-songwriter kind of mellow, there’s definitely some energy to it, ” he said. “It covers songs from my whole career — Farmer Jason, Jason & the Scorchers, Jason Ringenberg — and in the second set, I mostly do requests of my material. It’s a really interesting show for people who are really into my music.”
Ringenberg then added with a sly laugh, “Now, if you’re not into my music, by God, don’t come, because that’s what you’re going to get — a lot of it.”