This roots, rock, and Americana artist writes lush and literate, thought and emotion-evoking songs bursting with startling images. And he renders them with a three-plus octave hypnovoice, and a variety of guitar tunings and finger styles
    

Jack was born and mostly raised in Fairmont, West Virginia, on November 19, in the Year of the Long-Since-Forgotten, as the oldest of eight kids. Other than the usual lullabies, his first exposure to music was in the fundamentalist Pentecostal church his family attended.
     

When Jack was thirteen, the brother closest to him in age, Donnie, drowned. That same year Jack traded a pellet gun for his first acoustic guitar, and consulted his Uncle Rick, and Mel Bay, for lessons. Pretty soon, he was writing songs. He has now been performing for over twenty years. But it was only after a twelve year detour into acting, during which he landed a substantial role in Sudden Death, a Van Damme vehicle, that Jack decided to make music his profession.
    

Jack has two CDs out: When The Hurricane Hit (1999), and Pumpkin (2005), the second of which is receiving rave reviews, and air play around the United States. It was listed by WYEP 91.3 FM of Pittsburgh, where Jack now lives, as one of the top ten local releases of 2005. He is currently at work on his junior effort, Mystery Sandwich, set for release later this year. Jack's songs carry multiple layers of meaning. They cut to the heart of rich subject matter, promote personal growth in the face of adversity, and allow us to walk a mile in the shoes of characters from many walks of life.
     

Noticeable influences include: Dylan, Orbison, Cash, Billie Holliday, John Prine, Phil Ochs, John Lennon, and both Elvises.
     

Over the last few years, Jack has won two acoustic challenges, begun touring in the region, and grown immensely as a musician, singer, and songwriter. His CD Pumpkin was praised in The Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange, and is scheduled for review in the spring issue of Sing Out! Magazine. He recently toured with Anne Feeney, "the best labor singer in North America" according to Utah Phillips, to an enthusiastic response from her audiences.
     

Jack is busy arranging a tour of his own, eager to get the new CD into the hands of his fans -- invariably folks of both deep thought and feeling -- and to get his performances in front of new listeners.