Jason Ringenberg

Few frontmen have moved as easily between a Nashville rock club and a children's stage as Jason Ringenberg. Raised on a family hog farm in Sheffield, Illinois, he played rock and country while at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. In 1981 he moved to Nashville and formed Jason & the Scorchers, whose mix of punk rock and country helped define the indie country scene of the early 1980s and fed into the rise of alternative country and Americana.

The band had hits with Golden Ball and Chain and a rock version of Bob Dylan's Absolutely Sweet Marie, and in 2008 the Americana Music Association honoured them with its Lifetime Achievement Award for performance. Ringenberg has also built a solo career and in 2002 created Farmer Jason to entertain his daughters. Its 2003 debut on Yep Roc Records, A Day at the Farm, launched Farmer Jason, whose PBS mini programme has earned four Emmy nominations and one win. His 2019 album Stand Tall was written during an Artist in Residence stint at Sequoia National Park.