When events are advertised as “fun for the whole family,” that typically means they are considerably more enjoyable for the shorter members of the clan and at least tolerable for the taller ones. When a Jason Ringenberg appearance is the event, you can believe the hype.
When Ringenberg isn’t out front with Jason and The Scorchers — the Roots Rock titans are still going strong 35 years on — he operates under a pair of musical personas, as a powerful and passionate solo act and as a brilliant singer of original children’s songs under the banner of Farmer Jason. And like Santa Claus’s annual fly-by, both are coming to town.
Ringenberg’s solo career grew out of the natural gaps that occurred in The Scorchers’ long history, first with the slickly recorded One Foot in the Honky Tonk in 1992, and then with the self-released and infinitely more authentic A Pocketful of Soul in 2000, followed by his duets album, 2002’s All Over Creation. With those records, Ringenberg established his solo Folk/Country/Rock identity, which, in all honesty, didn’t depart significantly from his role in The Scorchers; he stomped when he felt like stomping, and he broke hearts when he felt achier and breakier than Billy Ray Cyrus ever imagined.
Nearly a decade and a half ago, Ringenberg concocted a new creative outlet for himself as Farmer Jason, a troubadour for children who sings silly songs that are just as authentically conceived and executed as his adult songs while being relatable to a younger, smaller demographic. Over the past 14 years, Ringenberg has released four Farmer Jason albums, 2003’s A Day at the Farm, 2006’s Rockin’ in the Forest, 2012’s Nature Jams and 2014’s Christmas on the Farm. In that time, he has also released another solo album, 2004’s excellent Empire Builders, and a jaw-dropping career retrospective, 2008’s Best Tracks and Side Tracks.
For a fairly long time, Ringenberg has been doing double duty on the road, arriving early to do an afternoon Farmer Jason appearance for his newer fans and hanging around for a standard stellar solo show in the evening. His latest local tandem shows will both be happening at Newport’s Southgate House Revival at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, and it will definitely be fun for… well, you know.
Click here for tickets/more info on both shows.
This article appears in Feb 22 – Mar 1, 2017.