Jason Ringenberg

Twenty years ago, Jason Ringenberg was the Jason of Jason and the Scorchers, stripping off his cowboy shirt at Off-the-Wall-Hall (now the Bottleneck). He kicked pitchers off the top of a cigarette machine and then perched there, half preacher, half gargoyle, all bright-red sideburns and chest hair, screaming his way through “Bible and a Gun.” These days, still redheaded but a little less frantic, he’s singing the same song Civil War-style with fellow silverbacks such as Steve Earle. His latest, All Over Creation, gathers contributions from BR5-49, Tommy Womack and Todd Snider, whose careers might not have been possible without Jason’s sledgehammer loosening of Nashville. He still has that mile-wide gulp in his voice, and he has moments of fury, even though he’s now a family man. Just to be on the safe side, when he starts stalking around in the audience, keep a tight grip on the beer.