Second Cup Café: Jack Ingram

After more than a decade, country singer-songwriter Jack Ingram is finally getting the nationwide recognition he's always wanted.

He visits the Second Cup Café to share songs from his new album, "This Is It."

Ingram burst onto the country music scene in 2005 with his No. 1 single "Wherever You Are" which spent 32 weeks on the Billboard Hot Country singles and tracks chart. But he's hardly an overnight success: The Texas native began his career more than a decade ago playing local honky-tonks and dance halls.

He signed his first record deal in 1995 and bounced between various indie and major labels, but a hit eluded him.

"I put out my first major-label record 10 years ago, and I was going to change the world and turn Nashville on its ear and everything else, everything you see in the movies," he told The Associated Press.

Ingram continued touring and paying his dues, putting out several live albums leading up to 2006' "Live — Wherever You Are" which contained the title track as well as his top ten hit "Love You."

"This Is It" is Ingram's first studio album in five years. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Country albums chart last week.

He shows off his ability to find the country heart of a rock song in the album's lead single, a cover of Hinder's hit, "Lips Of An Angel."

In recent months, Ingram has opened for Brooks & Dunn and Sheryl Crow. He'll hit the road again this spring and summer on Brad Paisley's "Bonfires & Amplifiers" tour.